The Radiant Lives of Animals

by Linda Hogan

Winner of the (Inaugural) 2022 National Book Foundation Science + Literature Award

From a celebrated Chickasaw writer, a spiritual meditation, in prose and poetry, on our relationship to the animal world, in an illustrated gift package.

Concerned that human lives and the natural world are too often defined by people who are separated from the land and its inhabitants, Indigenous writer and environmentalist Linda Hogan depicts her own intense relationships with animals as an example we all can follow to heal our souls and reconnect with the spirit of the world. From her modest forest home in Colorado, and venturing throughout the region, especially to her beloved Oklahoma, she introduces us to horses, packrats, snakes, mountain lions, elks, wolves, bees, and so many others whose presence has changed her life. In this illuminating collection of essays and poems, lightly sprinkled with elegant drawings, Hogan draws on many Native nations’ ancient stories and spiritual traditions to show us that the soul exists in those delicate places where the natural world extends into human consciousness—in the mist of morning, the grass that grew a little through the night, the first warmth of this morning’s sunlight. Altogether, this beautifully packaged gift is a reverential reminder for all of us to witness and appreciate the radiant lives of animals.

Genres: Poetry, Nonfiction, Nature, Indigenous, Animals, Essays, Native American

160 pages, Hardcover

First published October 13, 2020

About the author

Linda K. Hogan (born 1947 Denver) is a Native American poet, storyteller, academic, playwright, novelist, environmentalist and writer of short stories. She is currently the Chickasaw Nation's Writer in Residence.

Linda Hogan is Chickasaw. Her father is a Chickasaw from a recognized historical family and Linda's uncle, Wesley Henderson, helped form the White Buffalo Council in Denver during the 1950s. It was to help other Indian people coming to the city because of The Relocation Act, which encouraged migration for work and other opportunities. He had a strong influence on her and she grew up relating strongly to both her Chickasaw family in Indian Territory (Oklahoma) and to a mixed Indian community in the Denver area. At other times, her family traveled because of the military.

Her first university teaching position was in American Indian Studies and American Studies at the University of Minnesota. After writing her first book, Calling Myself Home, she continued to write poetry. Her work has both a historical and political focus, but is lyrical. Her most recent books are The Book of Medicines (1993) and Rounding the Human Corners. (2008) She is also a novelist and essayist. Her work centers on the world of Native peoples, from both her own indigenous perspective and that of others. She was a full professor of Creative Writing at the University of Colorado and then taught the last two years in the University's Ethnic Studies Department. She currently is the Writer in Residence for her own Chickasaw Nation.

Essayist, novelist, and poet, Hogan has published works in many different backgrounds and forms. Her concentration is on environmental themes. She has acted as a consultant in bringing together Native tribal representatives and feminist themes, particularly allying them to her Native ancestry. Her work, whether fiction or non-fiction, expresses an indigenous understanding of the world.

She has written essays and poems on a variety of subjects, both fictional and nonfictional, biographical and from research. Hogan has also written historical novels. Her work studies the historical wrongs done to Native Americans and the American environment since the European colonization of North America.

Hogan was a professor at the University of Colorado at Boulder and the University of Oklahoma. She is the (inaugural) Writer-in-Residence for the Chickasaw Nation in Oklahoma. In October 2011, she instructed a writing workshop through the Abiquiu Workshops in Abiquiu, New Mexico.

(from Wikipedia)

Reviews

[Andrew · Rating 5 out of 5]

In The Radiant Lives of Animals, Hogan tells readers of all the beautiful and enchanting workings of nature, primarily from time spent in both Oklahoma and her cabin home in a Colorado valley. Whether it's the mutual love and connection between her horses, her surprising cohabitation with wasps, or incredible observations of the ants, wolves, and more, there is so much radiance of its own packed into this little book. This is not just natural, it's spiritual-- and those two things are often one and the same. These essays have built a nest inside my own heart and spirit. Hogan reminds us of the everyday brilliance of thriving ecosystems when left unchanged by humans.

[Patricia · Rating 5 out of 5]

Beautifully textured paper and lovely typeface that will make rereading even more happy. I especially liked "Enchanted Bedroom," in which she lets the outdoors in, even living peaceably with wasps and "The Visitant," in which snows and snows bring a hungry elk in to be warily fed.

[Rich Flanders · Rating 5 out of 5]

Why is this little book, ‘’The Radiant Lives of Animals,'' so important at this moment? Because it has never been more urgent that humans find their place in Nature. In this time of impending climate collapse and potential extermination of life on Earth, our survival depends on an evolution in consciousness, an authentic compassion - not just respect - for all of life. As the Lakota proverb says, ‘’Mitakuye oyassin...we are all related - two-legged, four-legged, furred, feathered, finned, those that crawl in the earth and those that grow from it.’’ Among the wisest guides on the path to a sustainable planet are Native Americans and their traditions. This incandescent book by the Chippewa writer, Linda Hogan, is charged, transformative. It’s a soft explosion in our brains, smoothly merging our consciousness with the life of Hogan’s mountain home, with the wolf, cougar, elk, mustang, barn swallow, pack rat, aspen, and the passing seasons. Effortlessly, it dissolves the barriers we of the West have erected, unleashing our inherent connection to all of life.

Unless we come to realize ‘’we are all related’’ and begin to live in harmony with the earth and all her creations, we will vanish like so many species that have gone before us. Caretakers, not masters, we ‘’conquer’’ nature at our mortal peril.

Lyrical, wildly beautiful, deeply affecting, ''The Radiant Lives of Animals'' belongs in our evolutionary toolbox, alongside ‘’The Serviceberry’’’ and ‘’Braiding Sweetgrass’’ by Potowatami naturalist Robin Wall Kimmerer.

richflandersmusic.com
‘’UNDER THE GREAT ELM - A Life of Luck & Wonder''

[Nancy · Rating 4 out of 5]

I won this in a Goodreads giveaway.
This is a wonderful book. Recommended for everyone.

[Aya_89 · Rating 5 out of 5]

I cannot recommend this book enough. I would give 10 stars if I can. I think every human being should read this and learn how to become a better animal. Learn how to appreciate even the smallest lives around us. To connect and share. Her words were pure grace, soulful art. I want to meet her and hug her. I want to share with her the burden of being a human. I want to cry with her. I want to care for animals alongside with her and learn from her how to do it as peacefully and gracefully as she does. Such a great mentor and soul Linda Hogan. I wish I read her long ago.

[Sherry Lee · Rating 5 out of 5]

Truly, there is poetry in all of what Linda Hogan writes. I feel her calm, her passion, her love as details emerge of her home amidst animals. For whatever reason, perhaps, I was born fearful of nature, of the natural world, of the worms and the snakes, the wind and the rain; yet, I felt at peace reading THE RADIANT LIVES OF ANIMALS and know I now look at the world differently, even if I never come to terms with my own phobias.

[Lea]

Please seek out diverse reviews/reviewers.

I was looking for more poetry, I did read the poems in the book and enjoyed them. “Bear” was my favorite.

[Nancy · Rating 5 out of 5]

A beautiful and evocative book that illuminates the rich inner lives of animals and the human bond by a gifted Chickasaw thinker, poet, and writer. A book to return to over and over for inspiration, comfort, and connection.

[Naysa Bhargava · Rating 3 out of 5]

oh my goodness. i had to read this book for one of my GE classes (shoutout Prof Du Plessis) and i only read half of it during the school year so i just decided to finish it up (hence the long ass reading time).

Linda Hogan definitely has a way with words. i LOVE her voice throughout this book and i really like the overall theme she decides to tackle through her metaphorical prose — which is the importance and radiance of the nonhuman life around us. she tackles everything from the lives of horses and wolves to ants, and tbh i really enjoyed the insight and wisdom she provided in her anecdotal stories and poems. they were super eye-opening and it definitely made me pause and think abt and even appreciate the living creatures around me and their contributions to our world and quality of human life.

however, this book was also lowkey hard to get through (hence why i only read like half of it when i took the class) because after a while it starts to feel a bit repetitive. each short story/essay tackles an animal or concept that connects to her overall theme, which is great! but after a while, it feels like i’m reading the same thing with slightly different characters. even after reading half the book, i understood the essence of the book and was basically done with it (as demonstrated by the fact that i was able to write a banger essay abt it despite not reading the whole thing).

i will say that i also really liked how Hogan tied her own Native American heritage and culture within the stories. not only did it make it more personal, but it also made me understand where she was coming from a lot more and made me consider other perspectives on the lives of animals.

i will say, would only recommend if you love nature and animals, because Hogan takes a very strong, idealistic pro-animal stance throughout this (which i loved and found refreshing!) that may not sit well with everyone.

[Degenerate Chemist · Rating 5 out of 5]

"The Radiant Lives of Animals" is a collection of essays and poems that highlight Linda Hogan's love of nature and animals. Hogan is arguing that mankind needs to step beyond its current thinking about its relationship with natural ecosystems and embrace a more holistic approach.

"For tribal thinkers, it is the world outside us that creates our humanity and what inhabits us. Alive to processes within and without the human, this is a more humble perception of the world, and one far more steady. Nature is the creator, not the created. The human being is not the center of the environment."

And the sad thing is, western scientists are only recently starting to embrace the facts that indigenous people have learned through centuries of observation.

This book is heartfelt and beautifully written. It is a love letter and a plea. This is one little book that I will definitely be adding to my personal library.

[Mark · Rating 4 out of 5]

“Yet it is a timeless place with a history all its own and the voice of a creek in all seasons...Here is not a place of words or human intrusion, but one of listening, an ancient world where fish once swam an inland sea and stone was pushed sideways in glacial layers and red and burgundy.”

“The words give me hope for the future in this time when so many feel helpless...Something deep within says we can work together and find unity in some way, find a better future instead of only the division around us.”

Linda Hogan is a Chickasaw writer and environmentalist. In this volume of essays and a spattering of poems, Hogan takes deep, meditative looks at her relationships with the natural world. She focuses mainly on her life, living in an isolated cabin with her pastured horses and the visiting wildlife, that included elk, wolves and mountain lions. Her prose is both sharp and lovely. This was a very nice discovery for me and I will seek out more of her work. 4.5 stars

[Kaye · Rating 5 out of 5]

“The Radiant Life of Animals” is the first book I’ve read by Linda Hogan. I feel profoundly enriched by her insights on the soul being outside of us as well as inside, connecting us to the wisdom of the earth and all of its creatures. I reread some of her passages on horses, foxes, wolves, bears, rattlesnakes and mountain lions over and over. Her descriptions of nonhuman creatures are enticing. I envy her ability to connect with them, to earn their curiosity and a degree of trust. And I admire her acknowledgement to respect their boundaries. “…they need to retain some part of wilderness….wildlife is not meant for us, however we cherish the grace of such presence.”

I love this book and highly recommend it.

[Femke Keys · Rating 4 out of 5]

For school. Genuinely a beautiful read, Hogan’s thoughts are so well structured and easy to follow.

[Leslie Buck · Rating 5 out of 5]

I love Linda Hogan’s work. There is poetry in every word

[hiaa123 · Rating 4 out of 5]

"The term for animal, Nan okcha, means all alive...Animals, like plants, are a significant part of a whole. They have relationships and connections with other lives. They have different kinds of knowledge and ways of knowing. In the traditional worldview, we have awe of them and an obligation to keep them all alive. This is part of our human purpose here. Our ancestors survived in order for us to live and we have a debt to them as well. The debt is a moral one, a way of being with this earth and all its inhabitants, all sacred."

Linda Hogan feels a deep connection and responsibility to the earth. In The Radiant Lives of Animals, she shares her enchantment with nature and relationship with animals through beautiful poetry and prose. There is so much for readers to learn about the majesty of animals in this book. From the collective mind of ants to the whole ecosystems of wolves and bison. I was deeply moved by some of her stories, like those of her relationship with her horses. Hogan's respectful and humble lifestyle in the wilds of Colorado and Oklahoma encourages us to learn and love the natural world through observation. So read these beautifully illustrated, spiritual essays and poems and then go take a walk in nature, rethinking your relationship with all the living creatures in this world.

[Tim · Rating 5 out of 5]

Beautiful, stirring, needed. Linda Hogan's writing illuminates animals' rich inner lives, showing us how much we have to learn from them. The book is mostly non-fiction short stories that focus on a particular animal (e.g., foxes, elk, wolves, crows, etc.), with poems intertwined at different points. Yet it reads like one seamless work of poetry. Each story and poem shares different parts of a common narrative that warmly embraces the unique beauty of animals, while illuminating the deep psychological and cultural barriers we have to truly understanding and appreciating them. Throughout the book, she powerfully draws upon history to explain how colonization harmed indigenous cultures and ways of understanding and relating to the natural world - and how we need to decolonize nature before we can truly see it. At its core, this is a searing duet of how we can both grief the losses of the world and heal by taking our place in the world of wild things. One excerpt to leave you with:

“The cure for susto, soul sickness, is not found in books. It is written in the bark of a tree, in the moonlit silence of night, on the bank of a river, and in voice of the water’s motion. This cure is outside of our human selves, but it becomes the thread that connects the outer world with our own.”

[Cheryl · Rating 4 out of 5]

What exists inside the mind is lovely sometimes, and large. Its existence is why a person can recall the mist of morning clouds on a hill, the fern forest, and the black skies of night—what the Luiseno refer to as their spirit, acknowledging how great the spirit of the world is within our own human soul. It’s an enlarged and generous sense of self, life, and being, because not only is the body a creation of the world elements, but air, light, and night sky have created an inner vision, which some have called a map of the cosmos.

A deep dive into this lyrical writer’s experiences with animals from wasps to horses to deer, as well as musings on the state of our disconnection with nature today, nature, the outdoors, that is part of her DNA. I know people are still struggling with the idea that indigenous wisdom is a step back into heathen or pagan thought, with too much belief in progress, progress as their god now. I walked around the neighborhood today and each unit has a patio and balcony and there is such a trend to have nothing on them, not a chair, not a plant, not a decoration even; it is like if you moved into a place and completely ignored a room in it, but the connection to being outside is fading even more. I wonder if we as a species really have to get to the apocalyptic like parts of LA after the fires to realize the walls of a home, the boxes we stare at, the air that is dirty and makes us cough, the filters that won’t be enough to filter out all the pollution, everyone with asthma and allergies, before we realize the insanity of our behavior.

I have read a few ideas lately about how the focus on our inner thoughts might have led us astray, all the affirmations, and agonizing over choices, and trying to make meaning of hurt in our lives just not leading to positive mental health. Meditation, trying to clear our thoughts, can be almost impossible. But you can walk outside your door, look at the sky, count the trees, see how many colors you see, go to a park, watch people, watch light on water, and I swear all that will help your soul and spirit. Observing the world in a mindful way takes you out of the endless race of your nervous system and brain trying to protect you, even for a few minutes a day. Try it, so the planet doesn’t destroy us with our insane, insane practices.

Believing forests, waters, plains, even mountains, are all a part of our human genetic code, I’ve given too little thought to the daylight air and sky. Maybe even to birds along with the wind and currents of air that come from storms in far oceans.

The inward has, all along, been the wrong direction to seek. And yet we need the inner world, too. But we are more than that. A person seems so small, while outside them is the river, the mountain, the forest of fern and tree, the desert with its lizards, the glacial melting and freezing and the movement of all life. All this defines our own place in this world. The cure for soul loss is in the mist of morning, the grass that grew a little through the night, the first warmth of this morning’s sunlight, and the human walking in a world infused with intelligence and spirit.

Nature is even now too often defined by people who are separated from the land and its inhabitants. In our time, with our lives, we usually include primarily only a majority of the developed world. Such a life is one that carries and creates the human spirit with more difficulty. Too rarely do we understand that the soul lies at all points of intersection between human consciousness and all the rest of nature. With our bodies and selves, skin is hardly a container. Our boundaries are not solid; we are permeable; therefore, even as solitary dreamers we are still rooted in the greater soul outside of us. If we are open enough, strong enough, to connect with the surrounding world, we are capable of becoming something greater than what we are merely within our own selves.

The story of this land is ancient. The red earth, crags, and canyons were once an inland sea. I imagine the currents when this mountain basin was ocean, water swaying as the moon became full or as wind moved it, swaying. Within the water, a shining circle of fish, many lives all thinking and moving as one. Sea animals hid inside stone caves and indentations that now, so many years later, shelter canyon wrens and swallow nests, once protecting numbers of indwelling bats. In the times that passed between all these, dinosaurs left behind their footprints and bones for humans to find and fight over. Those are on the other side of this mountain that holds me.

Beauty can be found in protected places like parks and forests, and also outside the door. A few examples of the beauty I have been given.

[Jeffrey · Rating 5 out of 5]

I was quite taken with this book. It is, indeed, full of radiance. I also appreciated Linda’s thoughts on place. Since I am new to living in Colorado, it gave me plenty to think about.

[Nora · Rating 2 out of 5]

I should like books like this one. I spend a lot of time in nature, connecting with nature. This book is all about connecting with nature. It's poetic, slow paced, thorough. But I got really bored and could not stand another page of her looking into the eyes of different animals.
The poetry was nice though.

[Steve Voiles · Rating 4 out of 5]

Linda is a strong native American woman who writes strong words that tell a truth than can connect cultures. Her unflinching fiction helps us understand the non-fiction world by connecting emotions, understated, with facts that reveal the emotion more clearly than emotional words.

In this meditation on the animals she has encountered, mostly in her mountain home where she lives with horses and studies the animal lives around her, she shares moments of grace and acceptance as she encounters wildness and meets it with courageous, kindness and grace. There is the wonder of humming birds moving about her home and coming and going from open windows; the wasps that live in the house and wake her on some morning with a deliberateness that astounds; the moments of meeting an elk face to face in a deep snowy pathway, the cougars than drift past her tiny home. It is prose poetry, admiration for nature and human humility that is sadly rare in our modern world. "Part of caring," she tells us, "is observation." This little book allows us to care more because of her observations.

[Erika Jo · Rating 5 out of 5]

A total five star read! Once again, I probably wouldn't have picked this up on my own but I am eternally grateful for it being assigned reading in a class. The writing is beautiful and the experiences of the author are phenomenally written and expressed so beautifully, along with just being so educational and eye-opening on the indigenous relationships with non-human animals. I recommended this to my grandma AND it helped me feel calmer when there was a spider in my room when I was trying to sleep!

[Kelly · Rating 4 out of 5]

This deceptively slim volume is packed with rich prose; you need to take your time with this one. Ms. Hogan's style takes some getting used to (this is the first work of hers that I have read), but her message is clear: we -- humans-- must do better. As a species and as stewards of this planet. We need to respect and appreciate our fellow inhabitants, plant and animal, and our shared home. She draws interesting comparisons between centuries of indigenous knowledge based on observation versus modern scientific method, which can be destructive and is often invasive. Lots of lessons in here!

[Janet Meenehan · Rating 4 out of 5]

Lovely little book that combines poetry, reflective essays, and a wondrous view of life and land.

Hogan’s work calls to mind Weill:
“Attention, taken to its highest degree, is the same thing as prayer. It presupposes faith and love.

Absolutely unmixed attention is prayer.

If we turn our mind toward the good, it is impossible that little by little the whole soul will not be attracted thereto in spite of itself.”

Much of the book lifts the soul, but a sadness creeps in as she begins to dwell on what we have lost.

[Ellie · Rating 3 out of 5]

3.5 rating. Loved reading about the author’s slice of heaven where she lives and shares her life with nature. It is also somewhat sorrowful as the author spotlights how humans are single handily changing this bucolic landscape. The lower rating is based on the book’s focus on the serene and loving side of nature without recognition of the brutality of the animal world. Life is cruel for all species albeit humans certainly don’t help.

[Emilia Grujic · Rating 5 out of 5]

“There are moments when I am in kinship with all, seeing into the world and its life, sometimes even the universe. In those unusual moments, we are all one community, the tall grasses, lion, crow, and the human being with language that searches for a way to speak of these moments of the genuine spirit. In these short-lived moments I understand I am only a small human with great lessons to learn from the terrestrial intelligence all around me. But still, I am part of it.”

[Molly Blank · Rating 5 out of 5]

I wasn't entirely sure what to expect from this book, and it defies easy classification even now that I've read it. The warmth and complexity of the author's relationships to the world around her come to life in this rich series of anecdotes, short stories, and musings. It is beautiful to be invited into her worldview, and hopefully you walk away changed for the better.

[Corrinne Brumby · Rating 5 out of 5]

Beautiful personal essays that celebrate animals and our relationship too them. She shows animals in a way that treats them as equals to humans, even with their differences. They are ones we can have the honor to get to know if only for brief moments. Hogan really honors animals with her essays while also telling her honest stories as well.

[Vicki · Rating 4 out of 5]

A lovely read.
As I live in a dense, urban space, reading Linda's perspective on the overlapping worlds animals and human beings reside was soothing.

I was moved by Linda defining humans as keepers of earth with animals serving the vital role of guide in teaching humans the natural rhythms of our planet.

[Adam Burnett · Rating 2 out of 5]

Intimate, tender, and often cloying prose-essays on the lives of animals. A corollary to Kimmerer’s “Braiding Sweetgrass,” whereas this slim volume doesn’t contain the graceful fusion of modern science and Indigenous wisdom, but rather clunkily anthropomorphizes in halting prose, which is heartbreaking as Hogan’s poetry can be breathtaking.

[Sarah Maretka · Rating 5 out of 5]

Linda Hogan tells a beautiful story of her experience of coexisting with nature at a time when humans have made it close to impossible. Her words are inspiring and filled with love and empathy towards the natural world she is a fraction of. I will never stop talking about how beautiful and eye-opening this book is.