Yesterday I attended a conference on nature writing at the University of North Texas. There were presentations by several well-known writers, and a workshop.
Although Denton is 100 miles from my home, I elected to commute rather than spend time in a motel. I knew I would miss the opening remarks at 8:30, but unfortunately traffic was delayed by an accident on the road and by the time I got parked and registered the first lecture was almost over. So I missed Gary Clark, who writes the column Nature for the Houston Chronicle. Too bad, because I have sometimes thought I might like to write a newspaper column myself, and I would have liked to have heard what he said. A column also seems most like a blog than any other type of writing.
When Susan Hanson was introduced, I realized that she was a co-editor along with Susan Wittig Albert, of the book of short stories I had purchased last weekend which was now sitting on my bedside table. Such a coincidence. Susan read to us from an unpublished story of hers, mostly about her experiences with water from her childhood near Corpus Christi to her present home on the San Marcos River. Most memorable to me was a long passage about capsizing her canoe and her thoughts about drowning while she was underwater.
Next up was Keith Bowden, who teaches writing in Laredo when he is not rafting the Rio Grande. He has just finished a book about traveling the length of the Texas-Mexican border by raft and canoe. Keith had some great stories about encounters with mountain lions and border agents. If his book which is called The Tecate Journals is anything like his stories, it will be a great read.
Joe Nick Patoski was the best-known writer attending. Although he has written about music and has a biography about Willie Nelson soon to be published, he is also known regionally for his many articles on water which appear in publications as diverse as Texas Observer and National Geographic. He talked about his love for Barton Springs and the Blanco River and his concern for conservation.
During a break I noticed the name on the badge of the woman sitting a couple of rows over. It was Barney Nelson whose story about cowboying in the Big Bend country had caught my attention a few years ago. I went out to the lobby where book vendors had set up their kiosks and found an anthology of hers and brought it back in for her to sign just as an excuse to talk to her.
At this point we broke into smaller groups for workshops. I chose Robert Pyle because he was the main speaker later in the day and as much as I wanted to hear him talk then I also had a two-hour drive home and his talk wasn’t scheduled to start until 6. He is the founder of the Xerces Society and he is currently on a tour to find as many butterflies as possible in the United States during 2008. All writing is nature writing in his view, because everything we do is interacting with nature.
So what did I learn? Well, the universal opinion was that you can’t make a living from writing. Okay, maybe a handful of people make a living from writing, but the rest of us gotta have a day job. Most of the speakers looked at writing as an excuse for doing what they enjoyed, getting out and being with nature, and maybe a way to subsidize it a little. Another recurring theme was how out of touch most Americans are with nature and how we all feel separated from the mainstream because of our own interest in it.
Oh, and I also came away with a tall stack of new books to read.
Comments (5)
What a wonderful opportunity! Thank you for taking me along…
follow the links. there is some good stuff there.
Sounds like a great conference. The perspective that all writing is nature writing is an interesting one. I may have to try that one on and see how it fits.
Enjoy all your new reads.
i am not sure i quite believe it.
I was there too. I am a student at UNT and found you through Susan Wittig Albert’s blog. I didn’t write up a blog post about it though. I haven’t had time. I enjoyed myself very much and it sounded like you did too, a little anyway.
oh yes, it was well worth it.
Now, I’m a writer (nature, creative nonfiction / memoir, poetry), and sure, you don’t necessarily make a living off of it, but you sure can. Once you write a good book. I know people who make $1,000 minimum for a 45 minute reading, not including paid room and board (I know people who make much, much more). And then writers conferences are cash cows. Teaching, though very hard work, pays great. But all of these things take AWAY from writing, which for me IS my raison d’etre, hands down. It is perfect, though, when gardening / nature and writing work into one another, balanced, right. But boy I’m jealous you saw Robert Pyle–he’s very big! Lucky dog!
I think Robert Pyle said something to the effect that he could make a living at just writing if he made some compromises. I guess Joe Nick Patoski does.
I liked Robert Pyle. Actually I was glad to get to see all of these writers.
Hummm. Making a living at writing? I suppose it all comes down to motivation. If money is the motivation, yes, there are certainly easier and more reliable ways to make money.
I suppose you could argue I make my money at writing, if you count report writing as writing. The garden and other writing I do is just for fun and self-fulfillment. I need to remind myself that I can write about something other than x percent of people said this and x percent of people do that. (Snore.)
As for satisfaction? That’s hard to measure, eh?
Robin at Bumblebee
i guess they probably meant “nature writing” - but even at that there are an awful lot of people who obviously make money doing it.