What Wildness Is This: Women Write about the Southwest

Southwestern Writers Collection Series, The Wittliff Collections

by Susan Wittig Albert (Editor), Susan Hanson (Editor), Jan Seale (Editor)

How do women experience the vast, arid, rugged land of the American Southwest? The Story Circle Network, a national organization dedicated to helping women write about their lives, posed this question, and nearly three hundred women responded with original pieces of writing that told true and meaningful stories of their personal experiences of the land. From this deep reservoir of writing--as well as from previously published work by writers including Joy Harjo, Denise Chávez, Diane Ackerman, Naomi Shihab Nye, Leslie Marmon Silko, Gloria Anzaldúa, Terry Tempest Williams, and Barbara Kingsolver--the editors of this book have drawn nearly a hundred pieces that witness both to the ever-changing, ever-mysterious life of the natural world and to the vivid, creative, evolving lives of women interacting with it. Through prose, poetry, creative nonfiction, and memoir, the women in this anthology explore both the outer landscape of the Southwest and their own inner landscapes as women living on the land--the congruence of where they are and who they are. The editors have grouped the writings around eight evocative themes: * The way we live on the land * Our journeys through the land * Nature in cities * Nature at risk * Nature that sustains us * Our memories of the land * Our kinship with the animal world * What we leave on the land when we are gone

From the Gulf Coast of Texas to the Pacific Coast of California, and from the southern borderlands to the Great Plains and the Rocky Mountains, these intimate portraits of women's lives on the land powerfully demonstrate that nature writing is no longer the exclusive domain of men, that women bring unique and transformative perspectives to this genre.

Genres: Nonfiction, Essays, Nature, Environment

336 pages, Paperback

First published March 1, 2007

About the author

Susan is the author/co-author of biographical/historical fiction, mysteries, and nonfiction. Now in her 80s and continuing to write, she says that retirement is not (yet) an option. She publishes under her own imprint. Here are her latest books.

A PLAIN VANILLA MURDER, #27 in the long-running China Bayles/Pecan Springs series.

Two Pecan Springs novella trilogies: The Crystal Cave Trilogy (featuring Ruby Wilcox): noBODY, SomeBODY Else, and Out of BODY; and The Enterprise Trilogy (featuring Jessica Nelson): DEADLINES, FAULTLINES, and FIRELINES.

THE DARLING DAHLIAS AND THE POINSETTIA PUZZLE #8 in the Darling Dahlias series, set in the early 1930s in fictional Darling AL

THE GENERAL'S WOMEN. Kay, Mamie, and Ike--the wartime romance that won a war but could have derailed a presidency.

LOVING ELEANOR: A novel about the intimate 30-year friendship of Eleanor Roosevelt and Lorena Hickok, based on their letters

A WILDER ROSE: the true story of Rose Wilder Lane, who transformed her mother from a farm wife and occasional writer to a literary icon

THE TALE OF CASTLE COTTAGE, #8 in the Cottage Tales of Beatrix Potter

DEATH ON THE LIZARD, the 12th and last (2006) of the Robin Paige series, by Susan and Bill Albert

TOGETHER, ALONE: A MEMOIR OF MARRIAGE AND PLACE

AN EXTRAORDINARY YEAR OF ORDINARY DAYS

WORK OF HER OWN: A WOMAN'S GUIDE TO RIGHT LIVELIHOOD

WRITING FROM LIFE: TELLING YOUR SOUL'S STORY

Reviews

[Lindy · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is one of those books that I keep handy on a nearby shelf. I pick it up often just to read one of the essays whenever I need a connection - which is often. Most of my favorite authors have pieces in this book.

[Janice · Rating 5 out of 5]

The 4 Texas women editors of this anthology wanted to fill a gap that they believed existed in nature writing, especially in nature writing about the southwest area of the United States. They had noted that most of the well-recognized nature writing in the past had been created by men, and so had a perspective of nature as something to be conquered, writing that reflected individualism and self-sufficiency. They felt that women had been “denied membership” in the “nature writing club”, and so began soliciting and researching works by women reflecting their experience of life in the southwest. This volume is the result of their efforts, and is well worth reading. Most of the pieces contained herein are very short; I don’t think any were over 3 pages. There are also numerous poems included, and most of those are only one page in length. There are all kinds of subjects addressed here; most are women telling about some incident in their own life story, or discussing their observations of a particular area in the southwest. There are some great stories about river rafting on the Colorado River through the Grand Canyon, and about various hikes in different wilderness areas, about climbing canyon walls in Utah where foot and hand holds are those carved out by the Anasazi around 1,000 years ago. There are stories about finding flowers, about bird watching, cave exploring, seeing ancient cliff dwellings; and about daily living in the desert, or during droughts, or in the woods. There are several about sustenance, and cooking, about green chili, and dumplings; in one of my favorites, a women tells about her memories of first learning to make tamales, as all the women from her family gather in their New Mexico home for this occasion.

I do not usually like short stories, but I loved this collection, with so many different women telling about their lives, and especially about their own experiences in the natural world. I have the names of many more women authors that I want to look for and learn more about what else they have written. I am really glad these editors decided to “fill this gap”.
This meets the challenge to read an anthology in the group, A Book For All Seasons.

[Lungstrum Smalls · Rating 3 out of 5]

It's nice to read essays by non-professional writers interspersed with professionals. It's nice to read many, many essays, all by women. Some of it is really good, some of it is rather boring, classical naturalist type of stuff.

One of my favorite paragraphs, from a poem of all things:

"They were a band, screeching, yodeling, a multi-toned pack. Such yipping and yapping and jaw clapping,yelping and painful howling, they had to be skinny, worn, used-up, a tribe of bedraggled uncles and cousins on the skids, torn patched, frenzied mothers, daughters, furtive pups and, slinking on the edges, an outcast cowdog or two."
--a passing, pattiann rogers.

[Sarah Schuller · Rating 4 out of 5]

Bought this at the gift shop in Gila National Forest and I will always think of that trip when I read it:)

[Marit · Rating 3 out of 5]

This book is a collection of short nature writing prose or poetry, both previously published and brand new. Too often the writers veer into the effusive, quasi-religious ecstasy type of nature writing which I firmly believe causes all readers to tune out (except for the effusive, ecstatic ones.) However, what I enjoyed about this book is that the pieces were so short that I could skim the silly ones and concentrate on the pieces that I preferred. Dozens of writers contributed to this work, producing wonderful variety of writing styles and subject. The best section of the book I found to be was the urban nature writing. There the women wrote more succintly and honestly and infused the "mundane" with an exquisite little detail or a well-turned phrase. Some of these pieces I will go back to for my own writing inspiration, I'm sure.

[Patricia McConnel · Rating 4 out of 5]

A collection of varied short works about the southwest by women, some of them famous, some of them being published for the first time, and if you cover up the names you won't be able to tell which is which. My favorite was a new writer's account of the death of a raven.

[Sara · Rating 4 out of 5]

Really enjoyed the many writers. Each piece is usually 3 pages long and covers pretty much all aspects of living in and loving the SW states from mid-20th century on. All personal experiences rather than fiction.

[Er · Rating 5 out of 5]

I really enjoyed the book. Having grown up in the Southwest, I really enjoyed the stories, as they transported me back. Reminds me of the George Strait song that says, "by transcendental meditation, I go there (Texas) each night". Well, that's what this book helps me achieve. Thank you, authors!

[Lynn Siler]

My cousin Jan!

[Colleen · Rating 5 out of 5]

Loved it.

[Jan · Rating 5 out of 5]

I am so thankful I read this. When I finished I felt another meaning and experience to the title, a different kind of wilderness was spoken of, not just geographical. So many authors to thank, the list is long. Early on it was Cindy Bellinger who reminded me that my face is embedded with the land, as may be my soul.

I kept notes so I might find more on each author. Many stories reminded me of the beauty of the desert, of wide open spaces, of singing coyotes, of the setting sun. Ceirdwen Terrill is so right in saying it is better to travel in pairs for the feeling of safety. Sad. Leslie Marmon Silko, Yaquis history!

[Elaine Gabell · Rating 5 out of 5]

So many narratives and poems worth reading, all inspiring. Some by well-known authors, some not. All take you on a journey to discover what it means to be human and one with Nature.