Coming of Age at the End of Nature: A Generation Faces Living on a Changed Planet

by Julie Dunlap (Editor), Susan A. Cohen (Editor)

Overview

Coming of Age at the End of Nature explores a new kind of environmental writing. This powerful anthology gathers the passionate voices of young writers who have grown up in an environmentally damaged and compromised world. Each contributor has come of age since Bill McKibben foretold the doom of humanity’s ancient relationship with a pristine earth in his prescient 1988 warning of climate change, The End of Nature.

What happens to individuals and societies when their most fundamental cultural, historical, and ecological bonds weaken—or snap? In Coming of Age at the End of Nature, insightful millennials express their anger and love, dreams and fears, and sources of resilience for living and thriving on our shifting planet.

Twenty-two essays explore wide-ranging themes that are paramount to young generations but that resonate with everyone, including redefining materialism and environmental justice, assessing the risk and promise of technology, and celebrating place anywhere from a wild Atlantic island to the Arizona desert, to Baltimore and Bangkok. The contributors speak with authority on problems facing us all, whether railing against the errors of past generations, reveling in their own adaptability, or insisting on a collective responsibility to do better. Contributors include Blair Braverman, Jason Brown, Cameron Conaway, Elizabeth Cooke, Amy Coplen, Ben Cromwell, Sierra Dickey, Ben Goldfarb, CJ Goulding, Bonnie Frye Hemphill, Lisa Hupp, Amaris Ketcham, Megan Kimble, Craig Maier, Abby McBride, Lauren McCrady, James Orbesen, Alycia Parnell, Emily Schosid, Danna Staaf, William Thomas, and Amelia Urry.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9781595347787
Publisher:	Trinity University Press
Publication date:	09/19/2016
Sold by:	Barnes & Noble
Format:	eBook
Pages:	248
Sales rank:	419,845
File size:	1 MB

About the Author

Susan A. Cohen is a professor of English and coordinator of creative writing at Anne Arundel Community College. She is the editor of Shorewords: A Collection of American Women’s Coastal Writings and coeditor of Wildbranch: An Anthology of Nature, Environmental, and Place-Based Writing, and she is a founding member of the Association for the Study of Literature and the Environment. She lives in Arnold, Maryland.
Julie Dunlap is a writer and researcher who teaches and develops environmental science and sustainability courses for the University of Maryland University College. She is a longtime board member of the Audubon Society of Central Maryland and the coeditor of Companions in Wonder: Reflections on Children and Adults Exploring Outdoors Together. Her doctoral research at Yale University focused on children’s attitudes and beliefs about wildlife, and her postdoctoral work at Yale examined environmental education at zoos and aquariums. She is the author of the children's books John Muir and Stickeen: An Icy Adventure with a No-Good Dog, Louisa May and Mr. Thoreau’s Flute, and Parks for the People: The Life of Frederick Law Olmsted, among others. She lives in Columbia, Maryland.
Julie Dunlap is a writer and researcher who teaches and develops environmental science and sustainability courses for the University of Maryland University College. She is a longtime board member of the Audubon Society of Central Maryland and the coeditor of Companions in Wonder: Reflections on Children and Adults Exploring Outdoors Together. Her doctoral research at Yale University focused on children’s attitudes and beliefs about wildlife, and her postdoctoral work at Yale examined environmental education at zoos and aquariums. She is the author of the children's books John Muir and Stickeen: An Icy Adventure with a No-Good Dog, Louisa May and Mr. Thoreau’s Flute, and Parks for the People: The Life of Frederick Law Olmsted, among others. She lives in Columbia, Maryland.


Susan A. Cohen is a professor of English and coordinator of creative writing at Anne Arundel Community College. She is the editor of Shorewords: A Collection of American Women’s Coastal Writings and coeditor of Wildbranch: An Anthology of Nature, Environmental, and Place-Based Writing, and she is a founding member of the Association for the Study of Literature and the Environment. She lives in Arnold, Maryland.

Editorial Reviews

"To say that this book is a particular delight for me would be an understatement. I wrote The End of Nature when I was twenty-seven, and when I go back to read it now some parts seem jejune. That’s not true of the writing in Coming of Age at the End of Nature, which is mature, reflective, deep, and lovely. It makes me hopeful." — From the foreword by Bill McKibben, author of The End of Nature

“A fine collection of environmental writing in this thoughtful anthology from a 'new generation of fossil fuel freedom fighters'... an earnest compendium... an intelligent and heart-felt glimpse into the lives of the emerging authors Bill McKibben greatly influenced and a must-read for anyone interested in environmental issues, particularly climate change.” — Starred Review Library Journal

“These unflinching voices make a demand on the rest of us, if we have the courage to listen: it's time to make whatever life we can” — Orion

“Coming of Age at the End of Nature ushers in a new wave of millennial thought on the environment, climate change, and the art of living.” — Foreword Reviews

“A collection of essays by twentysomethings working to get us out of this planetary pickle.” — Grist

From the Publisher

★ 11/01/2016
Dunlap (Companions in Wonder) and Cohen (Shorewords) have curated a fine collection of environmental writing in this thoughtful anthology from a "new generation of fossil fuel freedom fighters." This is an earnest compendium of personal narratives penned by young writers growing up in the changing reality that Bill McKibben, who writes the foreword, describes in his environmental classic The End of Nature. Covering a wide range of topics, such as hurricanes Katrina and Sandy, urban foraging, and communal living with the "Lima Beans" in the Sangre de Cristo Mountains of northern New Mexico, many of the essays contained here reference McKibben's work. Several are also tinged with bitterness at being left with a mess by an older generation who lied about having it under control, yet there is a sense of confidence they will be the ones who finally figure out how to clean it up. VERDICT An intelligent and heartfelt glimpse into the lives of the emerging authors McKibben greatly influenced and a must-read for anyone interested in environmental issues, particularly climate change.—Venessa Hughes, Buffalo, NY

Library Journal