Human / Nature Anthology

probable title: (being human in the larger environment): There is a fine line to be drawn here: we do not need Emerson or Thoreau redux. That is, we are not interested in so-called nature writing per se – that has been done and re-done. We do not need science fiction (apocalyptic stories about dinosaurs or doomsday). We do not need disaster stories (that focus on devastating storms). We are primarily interested in stories that deal with the changing climate in terms of how these changes affect people, families, communities (environmentally, ecologically, politically, historically, socially). We might be thinking more in terms of Wendell Berry, if you need a point on the compass; perhaps, too, we are thinking of Annie Dillard. To what extent are people responsible for the disaster or for the recovery from such? (Let’s take a chance and suggest that you watch the movie, Michael Clayton.) Character, therefore, will be an important component of stories we select. We are looking for stories of character: how the human character has elicited changes in the environment and now how such a character will deal with such changes. The response of an individual to the force of humankind. We can imagine a story about a farmer: in Nebraska, in Vermont, in China, in South Africa. What’s happening to that farmer who sees her sheep starving, dying of thirst, or suffering from interminable illnesses? Climate is as much a metaphor as a social condition: what is the temperature in the atmosphere of our natural humanity? Some current terms that might set off ideas: Deep ecology; Evolution; Waste; Biosphere; Sustainability. We are looking for writing that goes beyond pollution reports, beyond news-writing about the ravages of mining – focus on the changing character of humankind (internally and externally) in relation to the environment. The story possibilities, we believe, are limitless, but we are truly looking only for fiction that helps us understand where we (the human population – individually and collectively) are going from where we are now, with an emphasis on the change (if any) in human character.

Country of Publication

United States