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Forest Language, A: Words That Illuminate the Astonishing World of Trees
Not yet published
Expected 29 Sep 26This beautifully illustrated essay collection offers a curious and creative invitation into the world of trees and the words we use to understand them.
What is crown shyness, and how could a tree be shy? What is heartwood, and what does it have to do with the heart? So often even our scientific terms are rife with surprising etymologies and images that may reveal as much about us humans and our relationship to nature as they do about the things they describe. Words related to trees and forests are no exception. With a poet’s sensibility, Hannah Fries peels back the layers of these ecological terms, reflecting on their meaning both literally and figuratively, intertwining science and metaphor.
What is crown shyness, and how could a tree be shy? What is heartwood, and what does it have to do with the heart? So often even our scientific terms are rife with surprising etymologies and images that may reveal as much about us humans and our relationship to nature as they do about the things they describe. Words related to trees and forests are no exception. With a poet’s sensibility, Hannah Fries peels back the layers of these ecological terms, reflecting on their meaning both literally and figuratively, intertwining science and metaphor.
176 pages, Hardcover
Expected publication September 29, 2026
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Review of advance copy received from Author
A Forest Language is a welcome, nourishing encounter at the crossroads of science and poetry, of fact and meaning, of understanding and intoxicating awe.
This book gives marvelous voice to the weight of story we feel walking beneath the trees. With Fries's poetic insight at our shoulder, we trace the fluttering green in the branches to its origin in living cells adrift in ancient seas; we celebrate the magic in an array of topics from the first leaves of spring to the life-sustaining decay beneath the leaf litter. Reading A Forest Language has forever enriched my woodland walks.
(If you're a nature/poetry nerd like me, you'll want to preorder this book.)
This book gives marvelous voice to the weight of story we feel walking beneath the trees. With Fries's poetic insight at our shoulder, we trace the fluttering green in the branches to its origin in living cells adrift in ancient seas; we celebrate the magic in an array of topics from the first leaves of spring to the life-sustaining decay beneath the leaf litter. Reading A Forest Language has forever enriched my woodland walks.
(If you're a nature/poetry nerd like me, you'll want to preorder this book.)
Displaying 1 of 1 review