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“Walter Scott and the Matter of Landscape: Ecologies of Violence” in The Bottle Imp Issue 16, 2014.
Essex University’s MA in Wild Writing: Literature and the Environment
Talk at Casper, Wyoming.
Talk at UW, Casper.
Author Archives: susanoliver
Hot Springs, Atomic Cities, and Craters of the Moon . . . on the Road in Idaho
‘Our heated sidewalks and dressing room floors keep your toes toasty warm, even on the coldest of nights.’ (www.lavahotsprings.com). ‘Welcome to the sagebrush steppe’ (information board, roadside rest area near Atomic City). ‘We’re praying for rain. There was hardly any … Continue reading
Posted in American West, Ecology, Environment and walking
Tagged Craters of the Moon, ecology, environment, Goodale's Cutoff, Idaho, landscape, Meek's Cutoff, nature, pioneer trails, road trip, Sagebrush steppe, Snake River Plain, Superman II, travel writing, U.S. deserts, Volcanic landscapes
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Getting to the Roots of the Matter: Trees and the Environmental Imagination in 19th Century Literature.
A video recording of my lecture in Interdisciplinary Explorations: The Idea of Nature Public Lecture Series at Boise State University, Idaho is now available at Boise Scholarworks. Thanks to the sponsors for their generosity in making the series possible, to … Continue reading
Sage Grouse Lekking and Canyon Fiction.
Green River at Green River City, where John Wesley Powell’s Grand Canyon expedition was launched. The grey-green sagebrush steppe and yellow and red rock canyons are two of the most contrastive, distinctive, colorful environments of the North American West. Arid … Continue reading
Posted in American West, Birds and Animals, Environment and walking, Fiction
Tagged biodiversity, ecology, endangered bird species, expeditions, Grand Canyon, greater sage grouse, Green River, high prairie, John Vernon (author), John Wesley Powell, Sagebrush steppe, The Last Canyon (novel), University of Wyoming, Wyoming
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Of Rocks and Hard Places . . .
I was talking with my group of graduate students about John Muir’s essays originally written for newspapers, published in the collection Travels in Alaska (1915). Muir developed a hypothesis during the 1870s revising accounts of how the geological landscape of … Continue reading
Posted in Environment and walking, Poetry and Essays, Trees
Tagged Alaska, geology, hiking, John Muir, plants, trails, Vedauwoo, Wyoming
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Overhauling. . .
I’ve been reading Kathleen Jamie’s collections Sightlines (2012) and The Overhaul (2012), in readiness for a graduate student discussion. The Overhaul is a collection of lyrical poems that, amongst other things, confronts the paradoxes and pains of isolation and our desire … Continue reading
Chokecherry Wine and Conferencing. . .
Searching for Place: Interpretations of the Landscape and Environment – Conference at the University of Wyoming. 28th – 29th March UW’s graduate conference on the theme of Searching for Place: Interpretations of the Landscape and Environment took place over the … Continue reading
Cottonwoods and sky: March 2014
Cottonwoods and sky: March 23, 2014 Arrived back in Laramie to azure skies and cottonwoods. I can’t say how much I love those trees, which grow on campus and line many of Laramie’s streets as well as thriving out on … Continue reading
Posted in Trees
Tagged Cottonwoods, cutthroat trout, ecology, nature, State emblems, Wyoming
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Susan Oliver, writing from . . . 