Indiana University Press blog

Green reading selections for Earth Day

Happy Earth Day! In honor of this occasion, we offer the following green reading selections:

Earth Works
Selected Essays
Scott Russell Sanders
Read excerpt

"Collectively, these essays invite the reader to gaze more clearly at the world outside his own window—a reminder, as Sanders puts it, that all there is to see 'can be seen from anywhere in the universe, if you know how to look... " —The Barnes & Noble Review

A Conservationist Manifesto
Scott Russell Sanders
Read excerpt

"Insightful essays . . . original and intriguing. . . . Sanders offers a 40-point Conservationist Manifesto, which, in its thoroughness, thoughtfulness and inclusion of environmental justice issues would serve the environmentalist community well." —Publishers Weekly

The Land, the People
Rachel Peden
Drawings by Sidonie Coryn
Foreword by Nancy R. Hiller
Read excerpt

"Ms. Peden's writings remind us that we have not only survived the challenges and fed upon the beauty of the land, but we have thrived as a people by drawing strength from our humble country roots." —Farm and Dairy Magazine

Rural Free
A Farmwife's Almanac of Country Living
Rachel Peden
Drawings by Sidonie Coryn
Foreword by Jennifer Meta Robinson
Read excerpt

"To all who care about nature and the changing seasons, reading it will be a satisfying experience." —Harper's Magazine

Speak to the Earth
Pages from a Farmwife's Journal
Rachel Peden
Foreword by Scott Russell Sanders
Read excerpt

"The insightful forward by Scott Russell Sanders and inviting drawings by Sidonie Coryn are lovely companions for this collection of brief essays. It is best savored slowly, read aloud in companionship with another or alone, for the sheer pleasure of hearing voice give flight to well-crafted prose." —NUVO

Earth Day podcast with Scott Russell Sanders

OK, so technically it's a couple of days before Earth Day, but I couldn't wait to bring you this fantastic IU Press podcast with award-winning writer Scott Russell Sanders. On this episode, we discuss Sanders's new book Earth Works and why he considers himself an "Earth writer."

'Mammals of Indiana' author to speak at Sassafras Audubon Society meeting

Mammals of Indiana author John O. Whitaker Jr. will be the featured speaker at the Sassafras Audubon Society’s spring meeting and dinner March 25 at Grazie! Italian Eatery in Bloomington.

Whitaker will discuss Indiana bats and the challenges in bat preservation, including white-nose syndrome and wind farms.

The evening begins at 5:30 p.m., with dinner at 6. Reservations are required. To reserve your spot, email Julia Ferguson at fluvialjulia@gmail.com by March 21.

Book reviews: Earth Works

"In language that’s patient, probing and precise, Sanders, who is based in Bloomington, has, over the past 30 years or so, built a body of work articulating what it means to live during this time on planet Earth and, particularly, that part of the planet called the American Midwest." —NUVO

"Earth Works, which collects twenty-one of Sanders's essays from previous books and adds nine others that haven't appeared in book form, is a chance for newcomers to see what they've been missing —and for longtime admirers of the writer to reconnect with a favorite voice." —Barnes and Noble Review

"By turns somber and snap-out-of-it buoyant, these elegant artifacts of restless inquiry cover subjects as intimate as the author's sexual awakening and his father's alcoholism, as broad as the origins of the universe and the disarray of contemporary hyper-urban society." —Indianapolis Star

Author event: Mike Homoya to lecture at Anderson Public Library

Mike Homoya will lecture at the Anderson Public Library about his book, Wildflowers and Ferns of Indiana Forests March 17. The lecture runs from 10:30 a.m. to 12:00 p.m. and is sponsored by Madison County Master Gardener Association and Madison County Purdue Extension.

Staff pick: Earth Works by Scott Russell Sanders

Reviewed by electronic marketing manager, Laura Baich

Have you ever connected with an author's writing so much that you wished you could become friends in real life? That's the way I feel about Scott Russell Sanders. Earth Works, his latest collection of essays, is the third book I've read by him, and I'm sure it will not be the last.

The book begins with an essay on essays. Sanders calls this kind of writing "a brash and foolhardy form...which relies on the tricks of anecdote, conjecture, memory, and wit to enthrall us." And enthrall us is exactly what Sanders does as a master craftsman of the essay.

Sanders covers a variety of topics In the book's 30 essays, including his Midwestern background, his father's drinking, his opposition to war, the ideology of consumerism, and our connection to each other and the Earth. But the common thread woven throughout all the essays is Sanders' contemplation of life—not only his, but all life on the Earth—and what it means to be part of the world. 

And this is why I keep returning to Sanders. Because, as he writes in the preface, the sources of many of his essays are questions that "must occur to every inquisitive soul." He eloquently examines thoughts I've had about living a good life, our role in the universe, and our connection to anything eternal. Sanders says that the answers he "come[s] up with are always partial and tentative, subject to rethinking in light of new knowledge or further reflection." But for me, the pleasure in reading the essays comes not so much from discovering his answer to a perennial question of life, but more from learning about the journey he took to get there.

So why else should you read Scott Russell Sanders? The members of the "What Would Scott Russell Sanders Do?" Facebook group sum it up best:

"If ever in need of life guidance, consider: WWSRSD? The man, the myth, the legend... Scott Sanders dispenses wisdom like it's his job—OH WAIT, IT IS."

March author events for Scott Russell Sanders

Earth Works author Scott Russell Sanders has several events planned for March:

March 1-3

Sanders will attend the 2012 AWP Annual Conference & Bookfair at the Chicago Hilton. Sanders will sign copies of his books Earth Works and A Conservationist Manifesto at noon March 3. For more information on the conference and bookfair, visit the AWP website.

March 15

At 7:30 p.m., Sanders will deliver the Annual Vocation of the Writer Lecture at the College of Holy Cross in Worcester, MA. To learn more about this event, visit the College of Holy Cross events page. 

March 24

Sanders will discuss and sign copies of Earthworks from 2 to 4 p.m. at the Village Lights Bookstore in Madison, IN. For more information, call 812-265-1800 or visit the Village Lights Bookstore website.

March 29

Sanders will be the keynote speaker at the 43rd Annual College English Association Conference. The event begins at 5:30 p.m. in the Omni Richmond Hotel in Richmond, VA. You must register online to attend this event. To learn more about the conference, visit the College English Association website.

For more information on these events, please visit the author's website. 

Booksignings for two IUP authors at the AWP conference

Two IU Press authors will sign copies of their books at the Association of Writers & Writing Programs' Annual Conference & Bookfair in Chicago March 3. Robin Hemley will sign copies of his novel The Last Studebaker at 11 a.m., followed at noon by Scott Russell Sanders, who will sign copies of his latest release, Earth Works, and A Conservationist Manifesto. Both signings will take place at IU Press's bookfair exhibit space (E10 and E11 on this map) in the Hilton Chicago hotel.

The bookfair is open to the public on March 3, so please stop by to learn more about our new Break Away Books series and to visit with our staff and authors!

Book review: Wildflowers and Ferns of Indiana Forests

"Homoya not only helps with identification, but also offers information on a plant's habitat, flowering period, familial relationships, biology, and connections to Indiana." —Outdoor Indiana

February author events for Scott Russell Sanders

Earth Works author Scott Russell Sanders has several events planned for February:

February 2 

Sanders will visit the Clark Pleasant Library in New Whiteland, IN, for a "Pioneers and Picture Books" children's program at 4:30 p.m. Later that day, he heads to Greenwood, IN, to give a reading at the White River Library for a "From the Frontier to the Future" family program at 7:00 p.m.

February 3

Sanders will join Midwestern writers Krista Detor, Philip Gulley, and Carrie Newcomer for an evening of "Miracles, Myths, Lyrics & Lies" at the Unitarian Universalist Church in Bloomington, IN, at 7:30 p.m.

Tickets are $18 for adults and $10 for children 12 and under or students with ID. To purchase tickets, visit the Buskirk-Chumley Theater Box Office.

This event is sponsored by WFHB Radio.

February 6

Sanders will be interviewed at 3 p.m. (ET) on Ken Rose's radio show What Now. The show is broadcast from California on KOWS Radio Occidental 107.3 FM, but you can also listen online.

February 18

Sanders will join Midwestern writers Krista Detor, Philip Gulley, and Carrie Newcomer for an evening of "Miracles, Myths, Lyrics & Lies" at 7:30 p.m. at The Royal Theater in Danville, IN.

For ticket information, contact The Royal Theater at (317) 745-1499.

February 23

The Trafalgar Library in Trafalgar, IN, will host "An Evening with Scott Russell Sanders" at 7:00 p.m. for the "Our Place in Nature" program.

For more information on these events, please visit the author's website.