Some Sites for Nature Reading and Writing

Being interesting in writing about nature--and reading about nature--I sometimes look around the web to see what I can find. I have linked to some of these before, but I think they are good resources for nature writing.

Nature Books Online (These are, of course, old books, but interesting nonetheless. Scroll down to the bottom of the page for related topics.)

Isotope: A Journal of Literary Nature and Science Writing

Orion Magazine - nature/culture/place

Nature Writing Resources

Naturewriting Resources and Inspiration

Henry David Thoreau

Enjoy exploring!

A Bat on a Tree

This past Thursday we saw a small bat clinging to a tree next to our office building. It was upside down, true to form, but hugging the side of the tree about three feet up from the ground rather than hanging from a branch. It was somewhat curled up, but was only about three inches long in that position. Some bats are quite small while others are very large, so I don't know if it was a baby bat or a full-grown one. At least we didn't have a large mother bat swoop down on us! I don't know if one would even do that. Do you get the idea that I don't know much about bats?

Apparently, it was sleeping, although it's possible it was sick. Everyone who went out to have a look had enough sense not to touch it, except for one young lady who poked it (gently) with a stick. She said it moved slightly and clicked at her, so it was alive. Dark brown and furry, it stayed motionless all day (except when being poked), but was gone today. I hope it was just sleeping and flew away at dusk, healthy and happy.

I was disappointed to not get a look at its little face--that might have given me some way of later looking at pictures to try to identify it. Still, it was one of those interesting, quirky things that sometimes happen. I was surprised that it would hang itself up in the open like that rather than higher up in the tree where it would be hidden among the branches and leaves and less noticeable to predators, like the cats that hang around our building. But then, who knows what bats think about.

Nature Links

Here are some links for those of you who are interested in learning more about nature. If you are interested in nature writing, these can help you learn more about what you are observing so that you can do a better job of writing about it.

Neartica

The Natural World

The Nature Conservancy

U.S. Fish & Wildlife Service

Scott's Botanical Links

U.S. Senate Committee on Environment & Public Works

eNature: America's Wildlife Resource

Bird Watchers Digest

National Audubon Society

There are, of course, many more sites to be found. You can search such terms as wildflowers, trees, birds, lakes, or similar terms. Enjoy!

Literary Science and Nature Writing

I have been thinking lately about literary science and nature writing--how enjoyable it is to read and the possibility of writing in that genre. My inspiration was these posts by Patricia Karamesines at A Motley Vision blog.

I have found an online essay by Barry Lopez in which he discusses what nature writing is and something about its evolution. He mentions many books and authors, so his essay will also give you plenty of material to try out at the library. I don't necessarily agree with some of his statements, but overall it is a good essay and a thought-provoking one. His opening paragraph reads:

In recent years, partly because of a tendency in market-based economies to niche all information, but also in response to a relatively sudden awareness of the social and political impact environmental legislation and thought have had on American society, people have come to speak of nature writing as a distinct, even emergent genre. It is more accurate, most critics assert, to say we are witnessing a resurgence in the genre; and, setting it alongside other genres, it is arguably more helpful to see it as that strain of American literature that, more than others now, is pursuing the ancient discourse on human fate.

A later paragraph says:

The philosophical roots of this work, obviously, lie with Thoreau and Emerson, and the genre includes elements of misanthropy (often, in my view, exaggerated) in people like Edward Abbey, Robinson Jeffers, and Loren Eiseley. But, again, it is hazardous to try to maintain strict bounds. Certain writers frequently cited as nature writers bring with them an additional emphasis -- Wallace Stegner's citizenship, say, or Gary Nabhan's ethnobotany. John Muir, though central to any definition of nature writing, is also considered a focal political figure; Aldo Leopold, another pivotal figure, is not literary enough for some, while Thomas Merton is often regarded as peripheral because his writing is too "spiritual." (I would argue that Merton, more than any other contemporary prose writer, maintained the tradition of spirituality in American writing now thought to be integral to nature writing.) And, in any given critical article, we may learn that, say, Mary Austin, author of The Land of Little Rain (1903), like Susan Fenimore Cooper, author of Rural Hours (1850), has just been "rediscovered" as a nature writer.

It's an interesting essay for those who would like to learn a bit more about nature writing and have some examples of authors to explore.

Henry David Thoreau is probably the nature writer who leaps to everyone's mind when considering this category--I know I enjoy reading his writings. I haven't read a great deal of science and nature writing, but I did read some selections in my anthology classes in literature.

There are any number of ways to go about producing literary science and nature writing. One can emphasize facts or one can emphasize personal observation. One can write poetry, essays, or fiction. Some travel writing could fall into this category, as well. The genre interests me, though, so I will be sampling some various authors and styles and perhaps tackle some writing myself. Also, see my post here at Scholar and here at By Study and Also by Faith, my other blogs, for more on this topic.