HOTSHOT: A Life on Fire

by River Selby

From 2000 to 2010, River Selby was a wildland firefighter whose given name was Anastasia. This is a memoir of that time in their life--of Ana, the struggles she encountered, and the constraints of what it means to be female-bodied in a male-dominated industry.

Unknown Binding

About the author

River Selby worked as a wildland firefighter for seven years, stationed out of California, Oregon, Colorado, and Alaska. They are the author of HOTSHOT: A LIFE ON FIRE.

They are currently a Kingsbury and Legacy Fellow at Florida State University, where they are pursuing their PhD in Nonfiction with an emphasis in postcolonial histories, North American colonization, and postmodern literature and culture. River has spent nearly a decade researching the history of fire suppression in the United States, Indigenous fire and land-tending practices, climate change impacts, and ecological adaptations across North American landscapes. Their research is informed by their extensive field experience.

River is a first generation high-school and college graduate. They hold an MFA in fiction from Syracuse University, and a BA in English and Textual Studies from the same institution, where they served as a Remembrance Scholar before graduating summa cum laude, with honors. River also received a Critical Language Scholarship for Hindi and served as a Fulbright ETA in the Czech Republic.

Hotshot: A Life on Fire is their first book.

River was born in Los Angeles and grew up in the Pacific Northwest.