My Oceans: Essays of Water, Whales, and Women

by Christina Rivera

Overview

An urgent exploration of caring and mothering on a planet in crisis
 
In a swell of sea-linked essays, Christina Rivera explores the kinship between marine animals, humans, and Earth’s blue womb. Rivera’s investigative questions begin with the toxic burden of her body and spiral out—to a grieving orca, a hunted manta ray, a pregnant sea turtle, a spawning salmon, an “endling” porpoise, and the “mother culture” of sperm whales—as she redefines what it means to mother and defend a collective future.

Braiding memoir with embodied climate science, Rivera challenges that it’s not anthropomorphism to feel deep connection to nonhuman species and proposes that gathering in collective grief is essential amid the sixth mass extinction. For ecofeminists, fans of Rachel Carson and Terry Tempest Williams—and for anyone who feels themself disintegrate in the presence of the sea—My Oceans offers a timely and wondrous descent into the deep waters of interconnection in which we swim.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9780810148376
Publisher:	Northwestern University Press
Publication date:	03/15/2025
Pages:	272
Sales rank:	251,434
Product dimensions:	5.40(w) x 8.30(h) x 0.90(d)

About the Author

CHRISTINA RIVERA is a Pushcart Prize--winning essayist from Colorado whose girlhood was bordered by coastlines of Pacific Ocean. She is a winner of the John Burroughs Nature Essay Award and a finalist for the Siskiyou Prize for New Environmental Literature. Her writing has appeared in Orion, Terrain.org, The Kenyon Review, and elsewhere.

Table of Contents

Author’s Note
 
Act I: Submersion
Blood Moon
Two Breaths
Oncoming
The Smooth Sides of Darkness
Red Talisman
The Seventeenth Day
The Endling
 
Act II: Migrations
Four Circles
The Silence of Thunder
Anatomy of a Seagull
Phantom Braking
Hidden Geographies
Screening Form
Empty the Tanks
My Oceans
Obituary
 
Act III: Fathoms
Quieseeds
Baby Jesus the Girl
Resuscitation
How to Host a Pod of Women in Water
The Shift
Good Grief
Fog Rescue
 
Book Club Questions
Thank You
Works Consulted and For Further Reading
Notes and Bibliography

Editorial Reviews

Honest and unflinching. But on this ocean planet, also healing.” —Bill McKibben, author of The End of Nature

“This collection is threaded with wonder, history, and heartache. In My Oceans, motherhood is not sentimentalized but shown as a transformative political power. Masterfully constructed and beautifully written, this book dwells in the depths—not only of oceans but of mourning, awe, anger, and action.” —Beth Piatote, author of The Beadworkers: Stories

“An agile voice traversing original landscapes both physical and psychological, both beautiful and harrowing.” —Chris Dombrowski, author of The River You Touch: Making a Life on Moving Water

“What is this astonishing book of motherhood, climate change, loss, and love? Christina Rivera’s lyrical prose brims with sorrow and outrage, yes; but those emotions evolve into hope, love, and empowerment, all while embracing the veracity of a researcher paired with the sensibility of a poet. I’ll return to My Oceans over and over to remind myself what matters most: compassion and the conviction that yes, this world not only must but can heal its wounds and evolve toward wholeness.” —BK Loren, author of the Theft 

“Christina Rivera’s first collection of essays, My Oceans, is a lyrical, informed, nuanced, and multifaceted exploration of the undeniable moment of climate crisis we are living in, seen through the lens of the author’s lifelong connection to the natural world, her work in the field of experiential education, and most pointedly, as a woman, committed ecofeminist, and the mother of two young children. In a voice that is warm, open, and trustworthy, Christina shows us what’s at stake, what we’ve already lost, and makes it real through the everyday impacts that global warming, environmental toxicity, and the uncertain future are having on her family and herself. She doesn’t flinch from the hard questions, whether they come from her children or her conscience. The candor and compelling urgency of these essays are themselves a demonstration of the galvanizing force of a woman’s voice, and the possibility for profound change if you listen.” —Kate Moses, author of Cakewalk
 

“Honest and unflinching. But on this ocean planet, also healing.” —Bill McKibben, author of The End of Nature

“This collection is threaded with wonder, history, and heartache. In My Oceans, motherhood is not sentimentalized but shown as a transformative political power. Masterfully constructed and beautifully written, this book dwells in the depths—not only of oceans but of mourning, awe, anger, and action.” —Beth Piatote, author of The Beadworkers: Stories

“An agile voice traversing original landscapes both physical and psychological, both beautiful and harrowing.” —Chris Dombrowski, author of The River You Touch: Making a Life on Moving Water

“What is this astonishing book of motherhood, climate change, loss, and love? Christina Rivera’s lyrical prose brims with sorrow and outrage, yes; but those emotions evolve into hope, love, and empowerment, all while embracing the veracity of a researcher paired with the sensibility of a poet. I’ll return to My Oceans over and over to remind myself what matters most: compassion and the conviction that yes, this world not only must but can heal its wounds and evolve toward wholeness.” —BK Loren, author of the Theft 

“Christina Rivera’s first collection of essays, My Oceans, is a lyrical, informed, nuanced, and multifaceted exploration of the undeniable moment of climate crisis we are living in, seen through the lens of the author’s lifelong connection to the natural world, her work in the field of experiential education, and most pointedly, as a woman, committed ecofeminist, and the mother of two young children. In a voice that is warm, open, and trustworthy, Christina shows us what’s at stake, what we’ve already lost, and makes it real through the everyday impacts that global warming, environmental toxicity, and the uncertain future are having on her family and herself. She doesn’t flinch from the hard questions, whether they come from her children or her conscience. The candor and compelling urgency of these essays are themselves a demonstration of the galvanizing force of a woman’s voice, and the possibility for profound change if you listen.” —Kate Moses, author of Cakewalk
 

From the Publisher