Nature's Writers Mentored by the Land

A photographic celebration of the landscapes that have influenced some of America’s most important nature writers—from John Muir to Terry Tempest Williams to Barbara Kingsolver.

Since 2019, Donald S. Clark has documented the places that have been instrumental in influencing the lives and words of both historic and contemporary nature and environmental writers throughout the United States. While we have always felt their passionate connection to their own environments, no book has ever made this visual connection between writers and their land before—the relationship between prose and place.

Featuring more than 40 of America’s most important writers, the content is as far-reaching as America itself: from sea to shining sea, forest to prairie, and mountain to coastline. Accompanying each gallery of stunning photography is a selected excerpt by the writer about their land. With the increasingly noticeable effects of climate change, the significance of these writers—and their personal connections to the environment—is even more timely.

This unique and compelling story of the land and how it has inspired some of our greatest poets and authors will make a wonderful gift for budding environmentalists, students of nature writing, or anyone interested in conservation.

Donald S. Clark is a professor of art and photography at Minnesota State University Moorhead. He has exhibited his work throughout the United States and internationally. Bill McKibben is an environmentalist and writer who frequently contributes to the New York Times, the Atlantic Monthly, and Outside. Camille Dungy is a poet and author whose writing focuses on history, landscape, culture, family, and desire. Her latest book, Soil: The Story of a Black Mother’s Garden, was recently released to critical acclaim.