A Literary Field Guide to Southern Appalachia
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Getting acquainted with local flora and fauna is the perfect way to begin to understand the wonder of nature. The natural environment of Southern Appalachia, with habitats that span the Blue Ridge to the Cumberland Plateau, is one of the most biodiverse on earth. A Literary Field Guide to Southern Appalachia--a hybrid literary and natural history anthology--showcases sixty of the many species indigenous to the region.
Ecologically, culturally, and artistically, Southern Appalachia is rich in paradox and stereotype-defying complexity. Its species range from the iconic and inveterate--such as the speckled trout, pileated woodpecker, copperhead, and black bear--to the elusive and endangered--such as the American chestnut, Carolina gorge moss, chucky madtom, and lampshade spider. The anthology brings together art and science to help the reader experience this immense ecological wealth.
Stunning images by seven Southern Appalachian artists and conversationally written natural history information complement contemporary poems from writers such as Ellen Bryant Voigt, Wendell Berry, Janisse Ray, Sean Hill, Rebecca Gayle Howell, Deborah A. Miranda, Ron Rash, and Mary Oliver. Their insights illuminate the wonders of the mountain South, fostering intimate connections. The guide is an invitation to get to know Appalachia in the broadest, most poetic sense.
Laura-Gray Street
Laura-Gray Street is the author of Pigment and Fume, and her work has appeared in Poet Lore, Hawk & Handsaw, Many Mountains Moving, Gargoyle, ISLE, Shenandoah, Blackbird, Notre Dame Review, and Best New Poets 2005. Her honors include four Pushcart Prize nominations, a poetry fellowship from the Virginia Commission for the Arts, Terrain.org's Poetry Prize, Isotope's Editors' Prize in Poetry, the Southern Women Writers Conference Emerging Writer in Poetry Award, and the Dana Award in Poetry. Street is an assistant professor of English at Randolph College and president of the Greater Lynchburg Environmental Network.
L L Gaddy
L.L. Gaddy is a naturalist based in South Carolina, He is also author of The Natural History of Congaree Swamp (with John E. Cely), Spiders of the Carolinas, and Ferns of the West Indies (an iBook).
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