I define Nature Writing as any writing ( poetry or prose) that gives as much attention to the natural environment ( or some aspect of it) as it does to any other main character.
Wikipedia defines it slightly differently.
Nature writing is nonfiction or fictionprose about the natural environment. It often draws heavily from scientific information and facts while also incorporating philosophical reflection upon various aspects of nature. Works are frequently written in the first person and include personal observations ( Wikipedia).
Nature writing is distinct from natural history alone ( though it has its roots there), environmental writing ( which writes about human impacts on environment), ecofiction (which writes about human accountability to environment) and ecocriticism (an interdisciplinary approach). My understanding of Nature Writing is also distinct from anthropomorphic writing, such as in “Wind in the Willows” by Kenneth Grahame. However, I do like nature writing that illustrates the point of view of an organism or an ecosystem. I am also mainly concerned with fiction rather than nonfiction.
This page is a list of environmental books. They are notable books that feature the environment as a major theme, including human impacts on the environment. I have selected those that are familiar to me and they mainly turn out to be by women.
Rachel Carson, “Silent Spring”, 1962
Mary Shelley, “The Last Man”, 1826
Margaret Atwood, “Maddaddam”, 2013
“Oryx and Crake”, 2003
“The Year of the Flood”, 2009
Gerald Durrell, “The Mockery Bird”, 1981
Inga Simpson, “Understory”, 2017
Richard Powers, “The Overstory”, 2018
Barbara Kingsolver, “Prodigal Summer”, 2000
Ursula K Le Guin, “The Word for World is Forest”, 1972
Also, several of the Romantic writers:
Henry David Thoreau
Ralph Waldo Emerson
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