Sisters of the Earth: Women's Prose and Poetry About Nature

Sisters of the Earth: Women's Prose and Poetry About Nature is a veritable treasure trove of nature writing by women. Lorraine Anderson did an outstanding job collecting a diverse group of writers who contributed poetry, prose, short stories and essays to the book. Her thoughtful and illuminating biographies that precede each work demonstrates her palpable attentiveness to each woman's voice. Sisters of the Earth contains this chorus of voices that include well-known writers to lesser known; I was amazed at the diversity of women found on each page - they include civil/natural rights activists, writers, environmentalists, biologists, poets, and teachers. It's an indicator of the times that many of the women who contributed to this show more anthology are not readily recognized for their work. For that reason, I consider this wonderful book an indispensable contribution to the (mostly male) canon of nature writing. And despite the inevitable label of "women's writing," this is a deeply humane book.

Simply put, I love this book. It's perfect to pick up and read a snippet here and there, or settle in a comfy chair and devour the whole thing. Illuminating, powerful, essential. show less

Some of these writings were wonderful, some stilted, some (the chapter about how we abuse the earth) either depressing or old hat--our society has moved on to other abuses. All were written in the US. Of course, I loved LeGuin's "May's Lion"--she's one of my all time favorite authors. And while I was familiar with Joy Harjo, Linda Hogan, Anne LaBastille, Paula Gun Allen, Marge Piercy it was nice to read something different by them since by no means do I have all of their writings. There were very few excerpts from longer works which inspire me to search out the original. One exception being McIntyre's Mind in the Waters; I already have Opal Whiteley in my TBR pile.
I was surprised at how many of the author's were born in 1800's or early show more 1900's. Out of 89 authors, 28 born in 1800's, 8 more before 1910. Surely more young women have written engagingly about nature--but perhaps it was a matter of obtaining copyright permissions.
Here're 2 new-to-me writers:
Josephine Johnson "I live alone in the country. I like it. The big kitchen in winter is full of potatoes and boots and sacks of seed. One can never be lonely in a room with a fifty pound sack of sunflower seed."
Abbie Huston Evans
"I may have stood in need of something bedded
Like the ledge beside me barnacled with lichen,
With a great wave of juniper breaking on it...
If you had told me that I wanted fulness,
Or life, or God, I should have nodded "yes";
But not a bush of berries,--not a mountain!
--Yet so it was: fantastic needs like these,
Blind bottom hungers like the urge in roots,
Elbowed their way out, jostling me aside;
A need of steadiness, that caught at mountains,
A need of straightness, satisfied with cedars,
A need of brightness, cozened with a bush..."

2011 review (I'm always so happy to find Juniper references!) show less

This is an absolutely beautiful collection of poems, prose, anecdotes, and other stories... I loved each piece. My only complaint is the inclusion of certain authors at the exclusion of others, and the occasionally too-long contributing author write-ups. All in all though, it is an extremely moving read.

I used this as a reference source, and bought or borrowed many of the works excerpted.

"A book to treasure, to savor, to keep ... - full of tales that are mesmerizing and heartening (Judith Freeman)." "These voices remind, rejoice, bewail, berate - with love, joy, compassion, energy, nerve and outrage - and we'd better pay attention (Janet Kauffman)." From the front and back covers.