Breakfast with Wendell Berry
Legendary author, thinker and farmer Wendell Berry headlined a lively discussion on everything from mountaintop removal coal mining to the role of literature in environmental struggles. Berry was joined by writers and West Virginia natives Ann Pancake, author of Strange As This Weather Has Been, and Denise Giardina, author of Storming Heaven and The Unquiet Earth. The authors will read from their books, discuss the treatment of coal-mining in their work, explore fiction's impacts on environmental issues, and answer questions from SEJ members. Here's the audio: Download SundayOpeningSession (MP3/17.5MB/1:16:50)
Wendell Berry also read two of his poems:
Download BerryWildThings (MP3/681KB/0:00:43)
Download BerryClosingPoem (MP3/1.64MB/0:04:48)
[If you know the name of the closing poem, please email Cindy.]
Breakout Author Sessions
Finding a Sense of Place: Appalachia in Literature and Journalism
Questions about the effect of environment on individuals and cultures go back for millennia. But what happens to people when they begin to lose their environment? Journalist Penny Loeb, novelist Ann Pancake and professor Theresa Burriss have taken different approaches to a question that is at the heart of the modern Appalachian experience. Download Sunday_Sense-of-Place (MP3/4.85MB/0:21:13)
Moderator: Theresa Burriss, Assistant Professor of English and Appalachian Studies, and Director of the Learning Assistance and Resource Center, Radford University
Speakers:
Penny Loeb, Author, Moving Mountains
Ann Pancake, Author, Strange as This Weather Has Been
Getting to the heart of environmental issues often means skilfully navigating place and time, capturing and recreating places, experiences and relationships that are far removed from the usual experience of the audience — and often from the direct experience of the reporters/writers themselves. Panelists will share their reporting experiences, writing strategies and tips for navigating distant and unknown terrain and returning with a piece of work that's authentic, insightful, and engaging. Download Sunday_Exploring-the-Horizons (MP3/14.8MB/1:04:49)
Moderator: Peter Thomson, Author, Sacred Sea: A Journey to Lake Baikal
Speakers:
Nancy Lord, Author, Beluga Days: Tracking the Endangered White Whale and Green Alaska: Dreams from the Far Coast
John Manuel Jr., Author, A Natural Traveler Along North Carolina's Coast
- Writing About Science and the Environment
What is getting in print these days that deals with the heart of the beat? Three recently published book authors discuss everything from the state of the book market to advice on writing about the fine points of science for a general audience.
Moderator: Robert Wyss, Author, Covering the Environment: How Journalists Work the Green Beat
Speakers:
Gary Braasch, Photojournalist and Author, Earth Under Fire
Eric Roston, Author, The Carbon Age
Debra Schwartz, Author, Writing Green
Comments