187 Main Street

ASLE Conference

July 01, 2009

Editor-in-Chief Chip Blake attended the conference of the Association for the Study of Literature and Environment in Victoria, BC, in June. While there he appeared as part of a plenary session devoted to “new media,” with Andy Revkin of The New York Times and Daniel Slager of Milkweed Editions. Photos by Rachel D. Shaw.

Daniel Slager

Andy Revkin

Chip Blake

OGN helping get kids outdoors

June 30, 2009

The Orion Grassroots Network is piloting a mini-fundraising campaign, The Wish List, in an effort to raise small pots of money for our Grassroots Network members via Orion’s visibility and channels, for items they can use for their missions but can’t prioritize due to budget restraints. Like waders for kids, in this case (Help Get Kids Outdoors and Coal-Scarred Streams On Their Feet!), or GPS units and kayak paddles, it’s akin to DonorsChoose.org, the tool to help schoolteachers afford supplies.

We’re now 70% of the way toward the goal of $300 for these kids. Wish us luck!

Orion as a Graduation Gift

June 18, 2009

We’ve just learned that the College of Idaho gave subscriptions to Orion to all graduating seniors as a parting gift! We love that!

Wildbranch Writing Workshop 2009

June 17, 2009

Orion Editor Jennifer Sahn writes:

With a faculty like Alison Hawthorne Deming, Erik Reece, and Ginger Strand, in a setting as sublime as Vermont’s Northeast Kingdom, it’s hard to go wrong. But still, it’s a pleasure to report how right things went at the twenty-second annual Wildbranch Writing Workshop, cosponsored by Orion magazine and Sterling College. This year’s bunch of students was outstanding, and the Friday afternoon student readings showcased short pieces they’d written or honed under the tutelage of the excellent faculty. Next year’s Wildbranch faculty will be announced toward the end of the summer so stay tuned…

Michael Perry, H. Emerson Blake, J. Drew Lanham

2009 faculty: Ginger Strand, Alison Hawthorne Deming, Erik Reece

2009 students and faculty

James Prosek Visits Orion

May 18, 2009

James Prosek, whose art and writing we published in “The Failure of Names” in our March-April 2008 issue, joined the staff for lunch at 187 Main recently. James talked about his ten-year project to write a book about eels, which has taken him around the world. The book is scheduled to be published by HarperCollins in mid-2010; we’ll be printing an adaptation before then. James is something of a wunderkind in the world of arts. He published his first book of paintings when he was 19. A dozen years later he has multiple books under his belt, a thriving career as an artist, and he even won a Peabody Award for his 2003 documentary about traveling in the footsteps of Isaac Walton across England. Along with Yvon Chouinard, the founder of Patagonia, James co-founded World Trout, which has raised more than $350,000 for conservation through the sale of trout-themed T-shirts sporting James’s paintings. It was great to have him in the office—and out of it; Hal and Jason felt obliged to take him trout fishing after lunch.

Erik Reece on Fresh Air

May 14, 2009

Frequent Orion contributor Erik Reece was on Fresh Air last night: http://bit.ly/qZRTs

On the Road, Looking at Photos

May 05, 2009

Orion Picture Editor Jason Houston recently finished up another round of great portfolio reviews, this time for Portland, OR-based PhotoLucida. This annual week-long event brings together museum curators, gallery owners, magazine editors, book publishers, and other photography industry professionals from around the world to meet with emerging and mid-career artists looking to share work and make connections in the editorial and fine arts fields. For a magazine like Orion, with incredibly diverse needs for visual art in content, style, and approach such intensive events are a great way to see a large volume of high-quality work from thoughtful, dedicated artists. Jason also hosted a Lunch Time Chat titled “Art, Editorial & Doing Meaningful Work” where he facilitated a conversation about the challenges and rewards of doing long-term, mission-driven documentary projects and finding creative collaborations with editorial and non-profit organizations to support that good work (many thanks to Mary Virginia Swanson for her questions that kept it lively and interesting (and for the photo below))





Jason will be reviewing next at Center’s Santa Fe Portfolio Review June 4-7, 2009.

Erik Reece on Trueslant

April 30, 2009

Orion writer Erik Reece just started blogging for a promising new site, trueslant.com.

Pushcart Prizes for Two 2008 Orion Articles

April 30, 2009

Orion articles by Ginger Strand (http://bit.ly/Strand) and Ben Quick (http://bit.ly/BenQuick) have won Pushcart Prizes. We cheer.

Video of the Orion Book Award Ceremony

April 28, 2009

StyleMusicTV made a brief video at the Orion Book Award event in NYC in April… http://bit.ly/IsLzU