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A Darker Wilderness: Black Nature Writing from Soil to Stars
A vibrant collection of personal and lyric essays in conversation with archival objects of Black history and memory. What are the politics of nature? Who owns it, where is it, what role does it play in our lives? Does it need to be tamed? Are we ourselves natural? In A Darker Wilderness, a constellation of luminary writers reflect on the significance of nature in their lived experience and on the role of nature in the lives of Black folks in the United States. Each of these essays engages with a single archival object, whether directly or obliquely, exploring stories spanning hundreds of years and thousands of miles, traveling from roots to space and finding rich Blackness everywhere. Erin Sharkey considers Benjamin Banneker's 1795 almanac, as she follows the passing of seasons in an urban garden in Buffalo. Naima Penniman reflects on a statue of Haitian revolutionary Francois Makandal, within her own pursuit of environmental justice. Ama Codjoe meditates on rain, hair, protest, and freedom via a photo of a young woman during a civil rights demonstration in Alabama. And so on--with wide-ranging contributions from Carolyn Finney, Ronald Greer II, Alexis Pauline Gumbs, Sean Hill, Michael Kleber-Diggs, Glynn Pogue, Katie Robinson, and Lauret Savoy--unearthing evidence of the ways Black people's relationship to the natural world has persevered through colonialism, slavery, state-sponsored violence, and structurally racist policies like Jim Crow and redlining. A scrapbook, a family chest, a quilt--and an astounding work of historical engagement and literary accomplishment--A Darker Wilderness is a collection brimming with abundance and insight.
298 pages, Kindle Edition
First published January 1, 2023
84 people are currently reading
2414 people want to read
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 53 reviews
February 17, 2024
full of ruminations about nature, many of which consider nature in ways I haven’t thought about before 💚 it was especially a treat to read the stories from local authors
July 4, 2023
I will be returning to this anthology many times. It’s full of so much wisdom and was super thought provoking and I’m so glad I stumbled upon it in the library(: [it feels like fate]
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October 4, 2024very nice, thoughtful, and grounded essay collection from a Minnesota publisher!
I originally purchased this book for a course on nature writing and had the pleasure of hearing from a couple of authors in class, which I appreciated. Both authors were very kind and gave us insight into their writing process & how difficult/tedious it can be to put together a collection... so, I'm happy everyone eventually got their essays in!
Some essays were more anecdotal, while some were more about theory. Some were a mix. Personally, I enjoyed the more anecdotal essays or the anecdotal parts of others, not as much the theory included. (just as a reader).
You can read all of the essays, but I'd recommend reading the first couple pages of all of them and only reading your favorites because you'll get the most out of those. Also, bring a pen.
I originally purchased this book for a course on nature writing and had the pleasure of hearing from a couple of authors in class, which I appreciated. Both authors were very kind and gave us insight into their writing process & how difficult/tedious it can be to put together a collection... so, I'm happy everyone eventually got their essays in!
Some essays were more anecdotal, while some were more about theory. Some were a mix. Personally, I enjoyed the more anecdotal essays or the anecdotal parts of others, not as much the theory included. (just as a reader).
You can read all of the essays, but I'd recommend reading the first couple pages of all of them and only reading your favorites because you'll get the most out of those. Also, bring a pen.
December 29, 2023
A beautiful collection of essays. I especially enjoyed the essay about naming, “naming is not innocent, passive, or neutral.”
Favorite quote:
“Everything we have been trained to think is flat has depth”
Favorite passage:
“Our first morning in the new place, I sat on our stoop and was surprised by the explosive athleticism of a grasshopper that burst its way in and out of the tangles daylilies that lined our sidewalk. I watched it for a few minutes, until it landed on the concrete in a slice of sunlight, turned its long body, one tiny insect leg at a time, toward the warmth, and exhaled. It was directly in front of me. I was a little scared at first, just seeing how big it was, surely longer than my index finger, but I was drawn quiet by our shared affinity for the moment, for the morning stillness. We were in tune enough for me to notice one of its antennae was shorter than the other, and my admiration grew, knowing that even this tiny beast hadn’t avoided injury, and still hopped in the sunlight. As we settled into our new home, and I spent many mornings drinking my coffee on our stoop, this grasshopper came back again and again. We never made physical contact, but on more than one occasion it sat right next to me, in the same slice of sunlight I was in, and looked out from where I was looking.”
Favorite quote:
“Everything we have been trained to think is flat has depth”
Favorite passage:
“Our first morning in the new place, I sat on our stoop and was surprised by the explosive athleticism of a grasshopper that burst its way in and out of the tangles daylilies that lined our sidewalk. I watched it for a few minutes, until it landed on the concrete in a slice of sunlight, turned its long body, one tiny insect leg at a time, toward the warmth, and exhaled. It was directly in front of me. I was a little scared at first, just seeing how big it was, surely longer than my index finger, but I was drawn quiet by our shared affinity for the moment, for the morning stillness. We were in tune enough for me to notice one of its antennae was shorter than the other, and my admiration grew, knowing that even this tiny beast hadn’t avoided injury, and still hopped in the sunlight. As we settled into our new home, and I spent many mornings drinking my coffee on our stoop, this grasshopper came back again and again. We never made physical contact, but on more than one occasion it sat right next to me, in the same slice of sunlight I was in, and looked out from where I was looking.”
March 20, 2023
This book is an amazing compilation of "personal and lyric essays in conversation with archival objects of Black history and memory." as the book description put it. Three of the essays/ideas/learning that I was so grateful to receive are from the authors below. Naima Penniman's 10 lessons from nature is not on my kitchen wall so that I can be in constant dialogue with her ideas as I move through my days. I offer the following three snippets and really hope that each of you will go and find this book and be blessed with the experience of these authors!
Naima Penniman
"We will protect what we love. And she will protect us.
We are reclaiming our dignified kinship with land as Black people. We have inherited the seeds that are ready to grow. We have knowledge in our ancestral memory that is rehydrated through practice- being with the earth, breaking out of isolation, coming back together. Like our ancestors at Bwa Kayiman, we are synching our strategies, uniting our spiritual forces, and committing to interdimensional collaboration. Like the Maroons, we are asserting our sovereignty by partnering with nature.
We are practicing ways of living that rely less and less on extractive and harmful systems. We know how to nourish our communities without abusing the planet. We are saving and passing on seeds, co-building the soil, growing our food, producing our fuel, devising our medicines. We are healing and expanding our families and kinship networks. We are forming our own freedom schools, cooperatives, land trusts, sanctuaries, mutual aid networks, gift economies, and lending societies. We are organizing authentic communities connected through purpose.
And there is so much to do on purpose. The magnitude of the crises we have inherited cannot be overstated.
When I was a child, I thought that if people only understood that the way we were living was causing immense suffering and disruption to our planetary relations, they would surely want to fix it. Perhaps we want to but don't know how. After all, recycling will not offer water to the beloved neighbor approaching an arbitrary and heavily militarized border, to leave behind the lands that raised them, now void of sustenance and safety. Picking up litter will not stop a small handful of people intent on hoarding the profits of pillage and criminalizing anyone born poor.
There are no ten simple fixes for saving the Earth. But there are prerequisites for our collective preservation. We are called to shape the future now. At this crossroads of peril and promise, the natural world is our beacon and compass. Our ecosystems offer templates for resource sharing and prototypes of pollination. The forest gives us archetypes of interdependence and frameworks for evolution.
Instead of ten prescriptions for protecting the planet, I will offer up ten lessons our devoted babysitter Mama Nature taught us--handwritten and sealed with love. May we apply them on the path ahead."
Sean Hill
"There's a current and now-shifting understanding of nature and wilderness that views nature as something at a remove from the manmade-it's primitive, remote, pristine land; untouched land that those with the financial wherewithal, time, and "desire" can access. Going camping. Backpacking. Disappearing into the woods for days on end.
I want to posit that I grew up with nature and the idea that the human imposition on the landscape, our built environment, our habitation, is just that: an idea, a perspective, as witnessed by the growth of "weeds," vegetation that needs to be controlled or cultivated. I think about tall grasses trampled down for bedding or a termite mound or anthill eruption or the way a beaver dam interrupts the flow of a stream, about all the various excavations by animals endeavoring to make a place for themselves, and I wonder if they think of themselves as outside of nature. I'm not saying that our homes, hamlets, villages, towns, cities, metropolises, and conurbations are "natural, but that the thing that separates them from nature is a cultural perspective. The sprawl of us across the planet in the Anthropocene means we look for the pristine-the not "Us"_ to find what we declare nature. This seems to me to be about power and ownership--access to the "right" kind of places to hike, camp, and get away. (Not to mention hunt and fish.)"
Ama Codjoe
"Here, in our photograph, rain freezes into dashes and droplets. The right side of the photograph is occluded: damaged by light, or a ghost, or a reckoning. The top of the photograph is framed by dark leaves that release tiny rivulets of rain. The young woman, the girl, is outside because nature is large enough to hold a freedom cry. Outside the frame, others like her refuse, disobey; open their mouths in pro-test, terror, pleasure, or song. In a letter to me, a friend wrote, One definition of nature is "everything that is not one's self." In the rain, or in the ocean, or in a flood of people singing freedom songs and calling the names of our unjustly killed, I feel a part of nature, a part of nature's self, which may be anything that gives nourishment and everything that breathes.
Water is the portrait I most resemble. When I am in water, stroked by its smallest particulates or immersed in its immensity, I am aware of the weather beyond my psyche, dragged into a bodily presence I often live estranged from.
I can't wade into the stars, or float on fire, or press myself, boundless, into a tulip tree's inner rings. Water lets me get close. When, under an open sky, I let water join me, I feel permeable and animal. "
Naima Penniman
"We will protect what we love. And she will protect us.
We are reclaiming our dignified kinship with land as Black people. We have inherited the seeds that are ready to grow. We have knowledge in our ancestral memory that is rehydrated through practice- being with the earth, breaking out of isolation, coming back together. Like our ancestors at Bwa Kayiman, we are synching our strategies, uniting our spiritual forces, and committing to interdimensional collaboration. Like the Maroons, we are asserting our sovereignty by partnering with nature.
We are practicing ways of living that rely less and less on extractive and harmful systems. We know how to nourish our communities without abusing the planet. We are saving and passing on seeds, co-building the soil, growing our food, producing our fuel, devising our medicines. We are healing and expanding our families and kinship networks. We are forming our own freedom schools, cooperatives, land trusts, sanctuaries, mutual aid networks, gift economies, and lending societies. We are organizing authentic communities connected through purpose.
And there is so much to do on purpose. The magnitude of the crises we have inherited cannot be overstated.
When I was a child, I thought that if people only understood that the way we were living was causing immense suffering and disruption to our planetary relations, they would surely want to fix it. Perhaps we want to but don't know how. After all, recycling will not offer water to the beloved neighbor approaching an arbitrary and heavily militarized border, to leave behind the lands that raised them, now void of sustenance and safety. Picking up litter will not stop a small handful of people intent on hoarding the profits of pillage and criminalizing anyone born poor.
There are no ten simple fixes for saving the Earth. But there are prerequisites for our collective preservation. We are called to shape the future now. At this crossroads of peril and promise, the natural world is our beacon and compass. Our ecosystems offer templates for resource sharing and prototypes of pollination. The forest gives us archetypes of interdependence and frameworks for evolution.
Instead of ten prescriptions for protecting the planet, I will offer up ten lessons our devoted babysitter Mama Nature taught us--handwritten and sealed with love. May we apply them on the path ahead."
Sean Hill
"There's a current and now-shifting understanding of nature and wilderness that views nature as something at a remove from the manmade-it's primitive, remote, pristine land; untouched land that those with the financial wherewithal, time, and "desire" can access. Going camping. Backpacking. Disappearing into the woods for days on end.
I want to posit that I grew up with nature and the idea that the human imposition on the landscape, our built environment, our habitation, is just that: an idea, a perspective, as witnessed by the growth of "weeds," vegetation that needs to be controlled or cultivated. I think about tall grasses trampled down for bedding or a termite mound or anthill eruption or the way a beaver dam interrupts the flow of a stream, about all the various excavations by animals endeavoring to make a place for themselves, and I wonder if they think of themselves as outside of nature. I'm not saying that our homes, hamlets, villages, towns, cities, metropolises, and conurbations are "natural, but that the thing that separates them from nature is a cultural perspective. The sprawl of us across the planet in the Anthropocene means we look for the pristine-the not "Us"_ to find what we declare nature. This seems to me to be about power and ownership--access to the "right" kind of places to hike, camp, and get away. (Not to mention hunt and fish.)"
Ama Codjoe
"Here, in our photograph, rain freezes into dashes and droplets. The right side of the photograph is occluded: damaged by light, or a ghost, or a reckoning. The top of the photograph is framed by dark leaves that release tiny rivulets of rain. The young woman, the girl, is outside because nature is large enough to hold a freedom cry. Outside the frame, others like her refuse, disobey; open their mouths in pro-test, terror, pleasure, or song. In a letter to me, a friend wrote, One definition of nature is "everything that is not one's self." In the rain, or in the ocean, or in a flood of people singing freedom songs and calling the names of our unjustly killed, I feel a part of nature, a part of nature's self, which may be anything that gives nourishment and everything that breathes.
Water is the portrait I most resemble. When I am in water, stroked by its smallest particulates or immersed in its immensity, I am aware of the weather beyond my psyche, dragged into a bodily presence I often live estranged from.
I can't wade into the stars, or float on fire, or press myself, boundless, into a tulip tree's inner rings. Water lets me get close. When, under an open sky, I let water join me, I feel permeable and animal. "
May 16, 2025
Favourite essays were Naima Penniman's essay about the Haitian revolution and environmental justice and the one exploring Indigenous and Black roots of place names (forgot to write down the author's name, soz!). Quite academic in style and I do tend to prefer a little more lyricism in my nature writing (Nina Mingya Powles, Jessica J Lee, etc), but all of these perspectives are approaching nature and land in a way I've not read before so really valued.
February 26, 2024
I’m not really impressed with most collections of essays because of their unevenness. Only two essays in this book captured my attention. The editor mentions in the introduction these essays show connections between the writer and nature. In my opinion these essays show very tenuous connections to nature in most cases. I felt several of the essays were little more than rants.
January 16, 2024
3.7 rounded … loved some essays . Bored other times . Liked pairing of archival object / photo with essay
September 25, 2025
Read this book fellow Black person who loves nature, plants, history, art, culture because this book will change your life. Grateful for every page.
May 6, 2024
A beautiful collection of essays!
August 8, 2024
Explorations of nature from the perspective of Black America. Oh this collection is unforgettable. There was so much to sit with. The book is a collection of essays. Each essay starts with a photo, except for one where the author is incarcerated and not allowed to access archives. I think this is vital reading for those who love nature.
May 12, 2024
This was a difficult one for me. Every author was different but it felt like I got lost in the sauce for about 80% of them.
It was a slog to get through all 12 chapters, but that's not to say the ideas or writing was bad. It's more that everything read overly scholarly in a way that would be totally appropriate for assigned reading in an college level social sciences class, but not many other places. Frankly, I was not expecting what I found when I picked it up -- I thought this book would be either more personal or more colloquial. I'm proud I finished it anyway though (even though it took months).
The stories (and authors) that most resonated:
- "Magic Alley" but Ronald L. Greer II: growing up with an urban garden in a Detroit neighborhood left to benign neglect
- "Concentric Memory: Re-membering Our Way into the Future" by Naima Penniman: Haiti's independence and subsequent punishment, poetic prescriptions for protecting the planet
- "There Was a Tremendous Softness" by Michael Kleber-Diggs: early tragedy, memory, and grandparents gardens
A couple others were interesting in they same academic, "this is a bit fascinating" light but were difficult to stick with, including Glynn Pogue's "A Family Vacation" and Lauret Savoy's "Confronting the Names on This Land."
It was a slog to get through all 12 chapters, but that's not to say the ideas or writing was bad. It's more that everything read overly scholarly in a way that would be totally appropriate for assigned reading in an college level social sciences class, but not many other places. Frankly, I was not expecting what I found when I picked it up -- I thought this book would be either more personal or more colloquial. I'm proud I finished it anyway though (even though it took months).
The stories (and authors) that most resonated:
- "Magic Alley" but Ronald L. Greer II: growing up with an urban garden in a Detroit neighborhood left to benign neglect
- "Concentric Memory: Re-membering Our Way into the Future" by Naima Penniman: Haiti's independence and subsequent punishment, poetic prescriptions for protecting the planet
- "There Was a Tremendous Softness" by Michael Kleber-Diggs: early tragedy, memory, and grandparents gardens
A couple others were interesting in they same academic, "this is a bit fascinating" light but were difficult to stick with, including Glynn Pogue's "A Family Vacation" and Lauret Savoy's "Confronting the Names on This Land."
January 22, 2024
A truly remarkable collection of essays (which I put down and took up at lengthy intervals just because each one made such an impression). My overall favorite was "Magic Alley" by Ronald L. Greer II, but the quote that stuck with me came from Ama Codjoe's essay called, "An Aspect of Freedom." She writes of her experience at a protest march where the heat was oppressive and folks were beginning to lag because of it. She writes,"We chanted, call and response, along with a woman projecting her voice through a megaphone. When the women's voice grew fatigued, another took up the lead and kept the song going."
And isn't that just it -- we must all do our part to keep the song going.
And isn't that just it -- we must all do our part to keep the song going.
Read
June 15, 2023This was not what I expected - it’s only loosely nature writing as it’s historically thought of, maybe because of the colonial roots of traditional nature writing it cannot be that.
The format of essays is a combination of the topic of the essay, Covid-19 and current events at the time of writing. Very personal, taking all encompassing nature and making it personal. Ten essays plus a forward and introduction.
I’m glad this book exists.
The format of essays is a combination of the topic of the essay, Covid-19 and current events at the time of writing. Very personal, taking all encompassing nature and making it personal. Ten essays plus a forward and introduction.
I’m glad this book exists.
March 14, 2023
Loved this collection of essays. What makes this book extra special is how each essay is focused on an archival object and its storied relationship with Black folks and nature. It spans ages and miles and the reader will relish every step.
I received an arc from the publisher but all opinions are my own.
ETA: Staff Pick 3/23
I received an arc from the publisher but all opinions are my own.
ETA: Staff Pick 3/23
February 28, 2024
“And Mama Nature taught us to be generous, loving, cooperative, multidimensional. That we are part of something so much bigger. We are no accident. We are never alone.” ~Naima Penniman
What are the politics of nature? Who owns it, where is it, what role does it play in our lives? Does it need to be tamed? Are we ourselves natural? A Darker Wilderness is a vibrant collection of personal & lyric essays in conversation with archival objects of Black history & memory. These essays reflect on the significance of nature in the writer’s lived experience & on the role of nature in the lives of Black folks. A Darker Wilderness is an anthology spanning hundreds of years & thousands of miles, traveling from roots to space & finding rich Blackness everywhere.
I remember reading “Walden” by Henry David Thoreau in high school & although I enjoyed it, I couldn’t help but wonder if this type of journey into nature for self discovery were accessible to Black people. How would that have looked? What would have been different about their experience? A Darker Wilderness answers those questions. I knew this book would be a gem but it was better than I imagined.
A thought provoking collection of essays about nature writing, land & lineage & all the ways we as Black people have used nature & the land to heal, build, teach, & escape. My favorite essays are “A Family Vacation”, “Concentric Memory”, & “Magic Alley”. “Magic Alley” written by Ronald C. Greer II struck a chord. This essay describes how his grandfather used his vegetable garden in the middle of his Detroit neighborhood to replenish the people (neighborhood drug addicts) as well as the land. After reading this, my relationship with nature will never be the same. For those looking to deepen their relationship with nature & further their understanding of nature as it pertains to Black people, this collection is for you.
What are the politics of nature? Who owns it, where is it, what role does it play in our lives? Does it need to be tamed? Are we ourselves natural? A Darker Wilderness is a vibrant collection of personal & lyric essays in conversation with archival objects of Black history & memory. These essays reflect on the significance of nature in the writer’s lived experience & on the role of nature in the lives of Black folks. A Darker Wilderness is an anthology spanning hundreds of years & thousands of miles, traveling from roots to space & finding rich Blackness everywhere.
I remember reading “Walden” by Henry David Thoreau in high school & although I enjoyed it, I couldn’t help but wonder if this type of journey into nature for self discovery were accessible to Black people. How would that have looked? What would have been different about their experience? A Darker Wilderness answers those questions. I knew this book would be a gem but it was better than I imagined.
A thought provoking collection of essays about nature writing, land & lineage & all the ways we as Black people have used nature & the land to heal, build, teach, & escape. My favorite essays are “A Family Vacation”, “Concentric Memory”, & “Magic Alley”. “Magic Alley” written by Ronald C. Greer II struck a chord. This essay describes how his grandfather used his vegetable garden in the middle of his Detroit neighborhood to replenish the people (neighborhood drug addicts) as well as the land. After reading this, my relationship with nature will never be the same. For those looking to deepen their relationship with nature & further their understanding of nature as it pertains to Black people, this collection is for you.
April 18, 2023
The anthology "A Darker Wilderness: Black Nature Writing from Soil to Stars" was put together by Camille T. Dungy and features modern Black writers of the natural world. A wide variety of Black authors, including Ross Gay, Major Jackson, Camille Dungy, Tracy K. Smith, and Claudia Rankine, are represented in the book's essays, poetry, and other writings.
The book examines the connections between race and the natural environment as well as the distinctive perspectives of Black writers on it. The writings in this collection offer a broad and compelling investigation of Black perspectives on nature, ranging from descriptions of rural landscapes and wilderness places to musings on environmental justice and social fairness.
The phrase "A Darker Wilderness" alludes to the notion that Black people frequently have distinct experiences with the great outdoors and the natural environment.
The book examines the connections between race and the natural environment as well as the distinctive perspectives of Black writers on it. The writings in this collection offer a broad and compelling investigation of Black perspectives on nature, ranging from descriptions of rural landscapes and wilderness places to musings on environmental justice and social fairness.
The phrase "A Darker Wilderness" alludes to the notion that Black people frequently have distinct experiences with the great outdoors and the natural environment.
July 13, 2023
I picked this up because I am aware that black people are not normally found in nature writing. It is a collection of essays that were commissioned specifically for this book. It was surprising to me that it is a bit bleak in certain essays. Some of the writers had access to only urban landscapes growing up such as empty lots or lots with dilapidated vacant houses with junk and glass and homeless people. But even in those spaces they found something important and beautiful to enjoy and inform them about the natural world. Not all of the essays were mostly about nature. It was always a facet, but it was less of the focus than I expected, and a couple of the essays were disjointed and rambling in a way that made it difficult to be sure what the point was. For that reason, I had to rate it only 3 stars.
December 18, 2023
I didn't finish this. While some of the essays were wonderful I just wasn't compelled to keep going before the library needed it back. Maybe someday I'll borrow it again and read the ones I never got to.
My main complaint is that defining this as 'nature writing' is misleading. I was expecting ruminations on finding kinship to wild lands in a country that you didn't choose to come to. There's a little of that, but there was more about property and homes. We all know our society's a mess... that's why I was keen on reading about relationships *outside* the destructive constructs of our society.
That said, I was moved by the stories I read and some of the writing blew me away. It just wasn't what I was looking for.
My main complaint is that defining this as 'nature writing' is misleading. I was expecting ruminations on finding kinship to wild lands in a country that you didn't choose to come to. There's a little of that, but there was more about property and homes. We all know our society's a mess... that's why I was keen on reading about relationships *outside* the destructive constructs of our society.
That said, I was moved by the stories I read and some of the writing blew me away. It just wasn't what I was looking for.
April 5, 2025
+ Foreword. Memory divine / Carolyn Finney
+ Introduction. More to be shaped by / Erin Sharkey
+ An aspect of freedom / Ama Codjoe
+ A family vacation / Glynn Pogue
+ This land is my land / Sean Hill
+ Confronting the names on this land / Lauret Savoy
+ An urban farmer's almanac : a twenty-first-century reflection on Benjamin Banneker's Almanacs and other astronomical phenomena / Erin Sharkey
+ Magic alley / Ronald L. Greer II
+ Concentric memory : re-membering our way into the future / Naima Penniman
+ There was a tremendous softness / Michael Kleber-Diggs
+ Water and stone : a ceremony for Audre Lorde in three parts / Alexis Pauline Gumbs
+ Here's how I let them come close / katie robinson.
+ Introduction. More to be shaped by / Erin Sharkey
+ An aspect of freedom / Ama Codjoe
+ A family vacation / Glynn Pogue
+ This land is my land / Sean Hill
+ Confronting the names on this land / Lauret Savoy
+ An urban farmer's almanac : a twenty-first-century reflection on Benjamin Banneker's Almanacs and other astronomical phenomena / Erin Sharkey
+ Magic alley / Ronald L. Greer II
+ Concentric memory : re-membering our way into the future / Naima Penniman
+ There was a tremendous softness / Michael Kleber-Diggs
+ Water and stone : a ceremony for Audre Lorde in three parts / Alexis Pauline Gumbs
+ Here's how I let them come close / katie robinson.
March 28, 2023
I loved this. A variety of stories and all evocative and thought provoking and healing. I'm so bad at reviews. I think these anthologies are important. Archiving, documenting, sharing, shining a light on, providing a microphone. Next I'm buying a copy of Black Nature, the poetry collection - and all of Audre Lorde's stuff. If you haven't read Alexis Pauline Gumb's 'Undrowned', I highly recommend that too.
August 21, 2024
A beautiful collection of stories/essays regarding the experiences of nature, the outdoors, farming, and general communing with nature through the lens of Black people from the famous (poets like Audre Lorde) to the common. It's the perspectives and voices that are given space to share using images, deep emotions, and thoughtful reflection. Each one is unique in its approach and focus which is what provides the depth.
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May 24, 2025A mixed bag with high standard deviation. The good essays were thoughtful, informative, inspiring, delicious, crushing, or all of the above. A few others were mediocre: rococo, convoluted, impenetrable. Probably meant more for poetry-type people than science-type people. And a couple were just flat-out wacko, with astrology and space aliens and magical thinking nonsense. Can't really recommend it but I won't add a rating.
March 13, 2024
I loved the intro to this book. The essay selection was varied and some I enjoyed more than others. I was excited to see the Penniman name as this is a sibling to Leah Penniman. I was also recently introduced to Camille Dungy and to see her mentioned (though no essay) was exciting.
For another book, check out We Are Each Other’s Harvest.
For another book, check out We Are Each Other’s Harvest.
March 26, 2024
What is there to say of this beautiful collection? Darker Wilderness is a gentle joy to read — weaving the mystical, earthly, historical, political and personal into a collective prayer. We have always belonged here. We will always belong here. Many of us will just have to remember where our feet are planted.
April 15, 2024
Beautiful read!! The perspectives of each writer on the impact, traumas, yet through and through love in relation to nature is awing. Each essay invoked motivation, hope, heartache, trust, and faith within me. I welcomed each and every emotion. I will never not recommend this book. I will never not think of this book.
January 27, 2025
Great collection of writings covering a broad conception of nature (one definition as nature being anything other than oneself). I especially liked the stories in which the authors reflected on their early experiences in the natural world. This book gave me a lot to reflect on, and I highly recommend it!
March 3, 2025
Read this, sit with the lessons of these scholars and saints of mother nature, and be changed. I Love the relationships within each of the essays. Each builds off the impacts of the last to make one robust collection of Black Feminist nature writing. Huge inspiration and resource for those who want to write about the environment.
September 6, 2023
I enjoyed most of this book however there was not as much nature as I was expecting. The lack of nature writing is what made me give it a 4 star. I picked up on a few authors I would like to read more of.
March 7, 2024
Not an easy read, and certainly, as expected I liked some of the essays more than others.
The one I did like the best was " Magic Alley" I wish they all could have been as good to read, but many seemed too long for what was said.
The one I did like the best was " Magic Alley" I wish they all could have been as good to read, but many seemed too long for what was said.
Displaying 1 - 30 of 53 reviews