On Saturday I gathered around writer Laura Waterman’s log-house table in Vermont with the good people of the Waterman Fund Essay Contest Committee. We reviewed a few dozen narrative pieces by new writers about wild places and their importance. We have a winner, and a runner-up! The winning piece will appear in the winter/spring issue of Appalachia journal. Meanwhile, the summer/fall issue is about to come out. Subscribe now. Appalachia is a print journal published twice a year. We publish excerpts in places like here and here.
All “Get This” Posts
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- I’ll be on Hiker Trash Radio June 3 May 15, 2024
- Going Over the Mountain reading at Wesleyan RJ Julia Bookstore October 14, 2023
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- Morning person? No. Night owl. December 30, 2022
- Writing below a mountain October 31, 2022
- New fiction in next year’s Running Wild Press Anthology September 20, 2022
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- Symbols in a personal history July 26, 2021
- From endurance to hope June 25, 2021
- Tuesday, April 20: How to start a freelance career, 5-6 p.m. April 17, 2021
- Beginning my visiting professor year at UConn August 31, 2020
- Appalachia’s Accidents report here. Click on link at the bottom. June 25, 2020
- Testing Poop is the Future May 27, 2020
- Manage public outdoor spaces the way we manage grocery stores: like essential spaces that should never close April 8, 2020
- Mountains in a pandemic: a call for submissions March 26, 2020
- Announcing a one-day Writing from Nature workshop on February 15 January 2, 2020
- The clattering-of-feet landscape December 13, 2019
- Remembering a rescue effort November 9, 2019
- Sewage Overflows: Legal but Tainted October 4, 2019
- The archives of my mountain childhood June 25, 2019
- Spring bursts out May 19, 2019
- Raining in Arizona May 7, 2019
- Shoulder season April 1, 2019
- Seven-hour Writing from Nature workshop March 30 January 29, 2019
- Fear of rattlesnakes January 27, 2019
- The latest November 20, 2018
- Wet, wet, wet October 29, 2018
- Birds on the Flint River October 5, 2018
- SUN Award Day, yay for tutoring writers October 4, 2018
- Rock path August 31, 2018
- How not to make money: ice-cream vending tales August 20, 2018
- Mold concerns rise with the sea level August 15, 2018
- Packing up our mother’s things July 16, 2018
- Wilderness writing June 10, 2018
- Mountain safety stories, two talks this summer May 28, 2018
- Possum, passim May 11, 2018
- A quick lesson from a musk ox May 2, 2018
- Searching for a Lyme disease test February 22, 2018
- Moments frozen in memory February 9, 2018
- Spontaneous survival projects January 25, 2018
- 19 inches December 19, 2017
- Do we change, how much do we change, and does it show in our writing? October 14, 2017
- Gas wells meet wilderness October 9, 2017
- Step forward onto the land: starting new writing September 14, 2017
- Ideas come from trees September 6, 2017
- Studies! August 24, 2017
- On paperback prefaces June 16, 2017
- The link between walking and creativity May 15, 2017
- Appearances for Libertarians on the Prairie May 8, 2017
- Danbury, Connecticut and the Little House books April 5, 2017
- Procrastination no more March 23, 2017
- A misbehaving horse’s lesson December 21, 2016
- Laura Ingalls Wilder as a Voter November 17, 2016
- Testimonials on Writing from Nature workshop September 5, 2016
- Writing Laura Ingalls Wilder’s pioneer life August 30, 2016
- Libertarians on the Prairie Coming Soon July 20, 2016
- Long 91-Mile Trail July 15, 2016
- A slim biography of masterful storytelling June 2, 2016
- Nature and the Ghosts of Thinkers May 22, 2016
- Observing without a notebook or cell phone May 1, 2016
- Why I started a writing workshop, and what happened when I did March 3, 2016
- Squatter farmers of long ago February 25, 2016
- Fog, night, fear, and writing ideas January 22, 2016
- “Writers from the natural world” January 5, 2016
- My favorite bits on what the holidays should really mean December 17, 2015
- Book is in to the publisher December 2, 2015
- Sunday afternoon thoughts September 27, 2015
- Retreat over, have emerged September 15, 2015
- Back from the Mountains August 21, 2015
- Laura Ingalls Wilder devotees follow details July 16, 2015
- A Field Guide to a Morning June 29, 2015
- Writing From Nature, a wonderful first year June 14, 2015
- Meet the Appalachia writers: Elissa Ely June 1, 2015
- Getting ready to find new ideas March 24, 2015
- Laura Ingalls Wilder died on this day in 1957 February 10, 2015
- Laura Ingalls Wilder’s birthday February 8, 2015
- Announcing the keynote speaker at my June writing workshop February 2, 2015
- New Hampshire circuit December 30, 2014
- Laura Ingalls Wilder’s memoirs, and what they reveal December 27, 2014
- Testimonials from my writing students December 9, 2014
- Looking Back on the Outdoor Season November 12, 2014
- Writing From Nature: Sneak Peek, June 12-14, 2015 October 7, 2014
- The dark side of the Little House author August 21, 2014
- Iowa and Wisconsin July 31, 2014
- Save the date: Writing from the natural world, June 12-14, 2015 June 13, 2014
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- 80 years since the Dust Bowl’s horrible drought March 31, 2014
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- Coastal towns cope with rising sea January 15, 2014
- New work update December 30, 2013
- November in Crawford Notch November 15, 2013
- Open Letter to Libertarians October 28, 2013
- Woodlands: 76 Years of a Powerful Little Magazine October 14, 2013
- Raising roads for rising seas September 30, 2013
- Desk work, late summer August 22, 2013
- Little Libertarians on the Prairie August 15, 2013
- Watch for my story about Little House books in Boston Globe August 9, 2013
- Mountains, a place to find what matters July 15, 2013
- Metcalf Institute science immersion fellowship marks 15 years June 9, 2013
- Fan mail May 8, 2013
- The Power of Narrative April 6, 2013
- When missing letters influence scholars March 25, 2013
- History of Daylight Saving Time March 10, 2013
- Communication blackout 3: the submerged cell phone February 28, 2013
- Communication blackout 2 January 25, 2013
- Communication blackout: first in a series January 20, 2013
- Happy 2013 December 31, 2012
- Not for the holiday wreath November 21, 2012
- Climate change makes it into acceptance speech November 7, 2012
- Full moon over flooding river October 29, 2012
- Lubbock, Texas October 18, 2012
- Appalachian Trail Thru-Hike Memory September 26, 2012
- Groundbreaking without realizing it September 12, 2012
- Actor’s Kilimanjaro quest, etc. August 21, 2012
- Alaska anyone? August 10, 2012
- Somewhere new July 22, 2012
- From a reader of Energy Independence July 14, 2012
- It’s all fine for them. They wear ear protection. July 9, 2012
- Back on the ridges, three days July 2, 2012
- Don’t take the train. That’s a certain train line’s slogan June 21, 2012
- Moody skies over Pattagansett River June 4, 2012
- Races May 21, 2012
- Crediting sources May 16, 2012
- Waterman Fund annual dinner April 15, 2012
- Shrinking Glaciers April 13, 2012
- R.I.P. Peter B. Lord April 9, 2012
- A tribute to environmental writer Peter Lord March 30, 2012
- Salaries March 26, 2012
- The narrower, yet expanding, environment beat March 16, 2012
- The wilderness narrative March 13, 2012
- Water scientist leaked conservative institute documents February 21, 2012
- Little House writing process, redux January 20, 2012
- Shutting off the lights at work January 10, 2012
- Low snow year (not counting October) January 3, 2012
- What to do with the card I sent December 27, 2011
- Car, Plane, or Train? December 14, 2011
- Most Significant: How Long They Stayed November 15, 2011
- Top strange facts learned in Miami October 23, 2011
- Rest stops close and cars clog mountain lots October 11, 2011
- Nipmuck Trail Marathon October 2, 2011
- R.I.P., Bill Hamilton September 16, 2011
- Makeup doesn’t matter August 25, 2011
- My talk on straight-up trails August 22, 2011
- Citizen heroes in Berlin, NH August 19, 2011
- Straight up trails in NH and CT August 6, 2011
- Buy food from farmers July 27, 2011
- Wilds of My Home State July 24, 2011
- A forgotten book July 21, 2011
- Couch potatoes blame potatoes July 12, 2011
- Four Miles Not Beers July 4, 2011
- Crashing an author’s dinner June 24, 2011
- Big skies of Iowa June 21, 2011
- Appalachian Trail reunions June 14, 2011
- Where that balloon ends up May 28, 2011
- Think Globally, Rain Locally May 24, 2011
- Our neighborhood inspiration, Joan Brainard May 4, 2011
- Dropping everything to visit your daughter April 29, 2011
- Connecticut gobbling power at home April 21, 2011
- She browsed the newsstand and found… April 4, 2011
- Extreme weather March 23, 2011
- Social scientists with the hot potato of climate change March 8, 2011
- Think Norwegian February 5, 2011
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- Wikipedia, the People’s Misinformation January 17, 2011
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- Thoughts on consumption, part 2 December 9, 2010
- Thoughts on consumption November 23, 2010
- Junk from the past, all part of trail work November 12, 2010
- The last sunset, sort of November 6, 2010
- Free water October 26, 2010
- A mountain next to your town October 15, 2010
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- The mountain I said I would never climb August 23, 2010
- A set of expectations punishing to women August 10, 2010
- What ignites the outdoor passion of the next generation? July 23, 2010
- Flooded swimming area July 15, 2010
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- Laura Ingalls Wilder’s Dandelion Wine July 7, 2010
- Selling the new book at Chester Market, June 27 June 16, 2010
- Heading back to the prairie May 11, 2010
- Occupational necessity April 11, 2010
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- Money, Money, Money March 9, 2010
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- Dogs January 8, 2010
- People Using Less Oil December 31, 2009
- Against Keeping Chickens December 21, 2009
- Flannery O’Connor December 18, 2009
- The Neglect of Obituaries December 17, 2009
- Buildings Scattered in the Green Spaces December 4, 2009