2 Contemporary Literature, 1970 to Present
George Hart and Scott Slovic, eds. Literature and the Environment, Exploring
Social Issues through Literature (Westport, Conn.: Greenwood Press, 2004).
Introduction to literature about the environment with chapters devoted to single
authors and texts.
Kent P. Lundquist, “Nature and Landscape,” in Encyclopedia of American Literature,
edited by Steven R. Serafin (New York: Continuum, 1999), pp. 809–812.
Broad overview of writing about nature in America.
Thomas J. Lyon, ed., This Incomparable Land: A Guide to American Nature Writing
(Minneapolis: Milkweed, 2001).
Expanded and updated from the 1988 edition, providing a critical overview of the
field and approaches to reading but omitting primary sources.
Patrick D. Murphy, Farther Af ield in the Study of Nature-Oriented Literature
(Charlottesville: University Press of Virginia, 2000).
Challenges the focus on nonfiction writing in the field of ecocriticism while also
offering readings of works—mostly fiction—previously ignored in the field.
PEOPLE OF INTEREST
Edward Abbey (1927–1989)
Best known for work featuring environmental concerns, including nonfiction
Desert Solitaire (1968) and the novel The Monkey Wrench Gang (1975).
Nevada Barr (1952– )
Author of the “Anna Pigeon” series of mystery novels, each set in a different U.S.
National Park. Track of the Cat (1993) won an Agatha Award for best first mystery
novel.
Wendell Berry (1934– )
Prolific essayist, poet, fiction writer, and farmer whose essay collections include A
Continuous Harmony: Essays Cultural and Agricultural (1972) and The Unsettling
of America: Culture & Agriculture (2004). His poetry collections include Collected
Poems 1957–1982 (1985), A Timbered Choir: The Sabbath Poems, 1979–1997
(1998), and Given (2005).
David Brin (1950– )
Scientist and award-winning author of the science-fiction series The Uplift
Novels.
Annie Dillard (1945– )
Pulitzer Prize–winning writer best known for her narrative nonfiction, including
Pilgrim at Tinker Creek (1974), and her memoir An American Childhood (1987).
Her works also include novels, poetry, and literary criticism.
Dana Gioia (1950– )
Poet, New Formalist critic, and chairman of the National Endowment for the
Arts from 2004 to 2009. His collection The Gods of Winter (1991) won the 1992
Poets’ Prize.