March 10, 2010
We are happy to see that Orion and Joe Wilkins’ “Out West” are among finalists in 2010 National Magazine Award Essay category: http://bit.ly/X067U.
For the National Magazine Award finalists, see the press release here.
posted by Scott Walker
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filed under: Nice to hear, Orion artists & writers, Orion magazine notable
March 09, 2010
We are thrilled that Scott Russell Sanders has won this year’s The John Burroughs Essay Award, an annual award.
The award announcement says in part: “Drawn to all trees, but especially to ancient ones, Scott Russell Sanders, in his essay “Mind in the Forest” (Orion, Nov./Dec. 2009), based on time spent on the western slope of the Cascade Mountains, in Oregon, finds himself meditating by an old Douglas fir, “reclaiming,” as he says, even if momentarily, “the full powers of mind.” He also provides a detailed sense impression of place, with reflections on his—and our—role in the natural world, both as despoiler and co-inhabitant with trees, animals, earth, the universe itself.”
posted by Scott Walker
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filed under: Orion artists & writers, Orion magazine notable
March 03, 2010
Some of you might remember The Place Where You Live—a reader-generated department that ran in Orion for many years.
We’re bringing it back. Please tell us about the place where you live, or send us a picture or drawing of it.
For more information click here.
posted by Scott Walker
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filed under: Orion magazine notable
March 02, 2010
Carolyn Drake’s Asian rivers project, published in the March-April issue under the title “Return to the Center of the World” (http://www.orionmagazine.org/index.php/articles/article/5331), just won first place in the nature story category in the POYI competition. While this is not for the Orion article specifically (these awards are first and foremost for the photographers projects and her project was not only our assignment), what we published was the primary editorial expression of this winning series and we were largely responsible for developing and supporting the project.
POYI, which stands for Picture of the Year International (http://www.poyi.org) is one of the largest, most prestigious annual photojournalism awards programs in the world. Winning one of these categories is a huge milestone in a photographer’s career. This is tremendous affirmation that what we’re doing with these sorts of deeper photojournalistic projects is at times, literally, some of the best work happening anywhere.
February 10, 2010
On Tuesday, February 9, poetry editor Hannah Fries took a field trip to nearby Monument Mountain Regional High School to judge the school’s final rounds of Poetry Out Loud, a national recitation contest created by the National Endowment for the Arts and the Poetry Foundation. The winner, Roo Sprague, will go on to compete at the state level. If the enthusiastic performances at Monument Mountain are any indication, poetry is alive and well!
Pictured: Hannah with school champion Roo Sprague (right) and finalist Joseph Heath (center). Roo recited “The Second Coming” by W.B. Yeats and “Preludes” by T.S. Eliot.
posted by H. Emerson (Chip) Blake
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filed under: Orion magazine notable
February 09, 2010
Assistant Editor (and Orion‘s Poetry Editor) Hannah Fries, in the final stages of getting her M.F.A. in poetry from Warren Wilson College, is also busy as a judge for Monument Mountain (MA) High School’s Poetry Out Loud finals, and as a judge for a poetry contest for Waldorf College in Iowa, where Orion author Joe Wilkins teaches.
posted by Scott Walker
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filed under: Orion magazine notable
January 26, 2010
Below are Jamie Goldenberg’s photos of the near-birth March/April Orion.
Above: A view of a freshly printed sheet inside the press. Orion‘s paper consists of 50% postconsumer fiber, is FSC-certified, and is chlorine-free. It is also carbon-neutral.
A sneak preview of an upcoming feature by Carolyn Drake.
Hans Teensma of Impress (left) discusses color with Scott from The Studley Press.
January 14, 2010
We are very pleased that Orion is among the approximately 60 organizations to be awarded an Access to Artistic Excellence grant by the National Endowment for the Arts.
posted by H. Emerson (Chip) Blake
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filed under: Orion magazine notable
January 13, 2010
We look forward to the April 2010 release of Peter Blanchard‘s We Were An Island, which chronicles the lives of Art and Nan Kellam, who lived year-round on a tiny island off the coast of Maine for 40 years. Peter is a member of the Orion Society board of directors.
posted by H. Emerson (Chip) Blake
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filed under: Nice to hear
November 19, 2009
On November 12–15, 2009, Orion gathered together fifteen writers from across the country for a weekend-long conversation about the genre formerly known as “nature writing.” Our purpose was to discuss a kind of writing that supersedes the idea of nature being separate from the human sphere, a kind of writing that grows out of the understanding that environment is all around us no matter where we are. A secondary goal, but no less important, really, was to build community among a group of writers who work primarily in isolation, to gather them together with peers who are, each in their own way, treading a similar path.
Over the years, Orion has periodically convened writers who have been central to the formation and evolution of the magazine. This time, the invitation list was dedicated explicitly to the next generation of writers, those walking in the shadows of the Wendell Berrys and Terry Tempest Williamses, which meant, in short, no one over fifty—and quite a few remarkable twenty- and thirty-somethings.
Attending were Craig Childs, Christopher Cokinos, Camille Dungy, David Gessner, Robert Hayashi, Amy Irvine, J. Drew Lanham, Amy Leach, Kathryn Miles, Lia Purpura, Matthew Power, Erik Reece, Ginger Strand, Joni Tevis, Joe Wilkins, and Orion staff members Chip Blake, Hal Clifford, Hannah Fries, Marion Gilliam, Jennifer Sahn, and Katie Yale.
Our host for the weekend was the Blue Mountain Center in the Adirondack mountains of upstate New York, a nonprofit residency program with a stunning location, a glorious facility, a fantastic staff, and a noble mission. Thanks also to Chris Weld of Berkshire Mountain Distillers, our local (!) maker of fine libations, who donated several bottles of lubrication for the weekend. The event was a phenomenal success. The next generation of writers who will not go down in history as nature writers have a deep shared sense of purpose. They also excel at ping-pong.
