Hearth: A Global Conversation on Identity, Community, and Place

by Annick Smith (Editor), Susan O’Connor (Editor)

A multicultural anthology, edited by Susan O’Connor and Annick Smith, about the enduring importance and shifting associations of the hearth in our world. A hearth is many a place for solitude; a source of identity; something we make and share with others; a history of ourselves and our homes. It is the fixed center we return to. It is just as intrinsically portable. It is, in short, the perfect metaphor for what we seek in these complex and contradictory times—set in flux by climate change, mass immigration, the refugee crisis, and the dislocating effects of technology. Featuring original contributions from some of our most cherished voices—including Terry Tempest Williams, Bill McKibben, Pico Iyer, Natasha Trethewey, Luis Alberto Urrea, and Chigozie Obioma— Hearth suggests that empathy and storytelling hold the power to unite us when we have wandered alone for too long. This is an essential anthology that challenges us to redefine home and as a place to welcome strangers, to be generous, to care for the world beyond one’s own experience.

Genres: Nonfiction, Essays, Poetry, Short Stories

280 pages, Hardcover

Published October 9, 2018

Reviews

[Amy · Rating 2 out of 5]

A few interesting essays but also a lot of less interesting ones. Despite containing authors from around the world, the collection seemed less diverse because it became repetitive in the later sections, and most of the authors were much older and considered life from similar specific viewpoint.

I don’t think if did a good job of covering the heart of the us vs them problems that is raised a few times as one of the problems of the idea of hearths. The strongest essays considered community building and identity building, as well as finding a sense of belonging, in a global world where people are transient, by choice and often by force.

I also have to say that the book would have been much better without the cultural appropriation of spiritual practices and ideas by white, western authors, and the lauding of “primitive” practices and societies that crop up.

[Anne · Rating 3 out of 5]

Essays, poetry, photographs, book excerpts.
Some are beautiful, all are meaningful in one way or another. What/where/who is your hearth? An interesting question and consideration. Makes me want to write my own hearth.

[Joanna · Rating 5 out of 5]

Picked this book up at Back of Beyond Books in Moab & devoured it over the following few days. A beautifully curated anthology of essays & poetry by worldwide writers on the meanings of community, identity, and place. I found the concept inspiring as well; it catalyzed some writing on my own. What is your hearth? What gives you a sense of warmth, of belonging? I loved hearing this questions answered by these diverse voices.

[Mandy Applin Northwoods · Rating 5 out of 5]

What a fitting book for 2020 ... a compilation of essays from a wide variety of writers, centering on the concept of "hearth". This book is an interesting (and sometimes surprising) insight into the many interpretations of hearth and home based on individual and cultural experience. Essays selected for inclusion were written by refugees, indigenous, scholars of ancient poetry, archaeologists ... and more. A+

[Sue · Rating 4 out of 5]

A collection of essays around the theme of “hearth”. Thoughtful, an international perspective, with special emphasis on “earth”. Many of the essays were deeply philosophical and some were disturbing. I am glad to have read them all because they challenged the depth of my thinking of several issues and challenged my personal development.

[Sarah Olivo · Rating 4 out of 5]

Beautiful compilation of essays around hearth, health, art, home, healing, and more. Topics ranged from familial trauma, environmentalism, Native representation, and conserving the world around us. My favorite is a ‘A Tea Ceremony for Public Lands’ by Terry Tempest Williams and Sarah Hedden.

And thanks to a dear friend who always gets me spot on books.

[Emma · Rating 4 out of 5]

This book of essays is beautiful - I loved the breadth of locations and ideas about hearth that this book encompassed, and the geographic variety.

I do question how some of these apply to "hearth" and some were stronger than others but overall this is worth a read!

[Ser · Rating 4 out of 5]

I found this to be a powerful book. I especially appreciated that it included voices from all over the world writing about home and belonging and connection to the world in our troubled and troubling times and contained perspectives of displaced people and immigrants.

[Sarah · Rating 5 out of 5]

What is a hearth? How does it speak to one's heart? Does it have to be in a physical structure? These are thought-provoking essays and poems about hearth, heart, and home and topics of climate change, immigration and other global and personal issues from a stellar group of authors.

[Maggie · Rating 3 out of 5]

Few of these essays stood out to me, though I absolutely loved Mark Tredinnick's "The Temple of the Word". It's one essay I'm sure to revisit again and again.

[Kathryn · Rating 5 out of 5]

Loved this! Recommend for anyone with the humility and heart for listening to the human voices that connect us all.

[Erin · Rating 4 out of 5]

This collection takes you vividly around the globe. Each piece stands alone and I enjoyed digesting them slowly, one a day.

[Melissa Ward · Rating 5 out of 5]

very good medicine.