Writer ~ Naturalist ~ Song Crafter
My prose, poetry, and songs arise at the intersection between ecology and art.
I believe we are all artists.
I believe we are all artists.
*********************************************************************************************************
Geosmin poetry collection
is now available!
Geosmin (the scent of soil) is celebration of the startling and shimmering earth praising creatures of soil, sky, and in-between.
is now available!
Geosmin (the scent of soil) is celebration of the startling and shimmering earth praising creatures of soil, sky, and in-between.
"Part almanac, part field guide, and all love song,
these poems are baskets of earth-words...
These deep-time poems make me heady with love"
-Janisse Ray, author of Red Lanterns
and Wild Spectacle
these poems are baskets of earth-words...
These deep-time poems make me heady with love"
-Janisse Ray, author of Red Lanterns
and Wild Spectacle
^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^
Catherine Young - JUNE 2022 - Dickinson Poetry Series
reading from Geosmin Click here: https://youtu.be/ZFd_r9EaPTk
^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^
Catherine Young - JUNE 2022 - Dickinson Poetry Series
reading from Geosmin Click here: https://youtu.be/ZFd_r9EaPTk
^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^
Geosmin
a celebration of this shimmering Earth
Hardcover 102 pages
Ask me to mail a copy to you: $25 + $5.00 shipping
*Is there a library you'd like to donate Geosmin to?*
a celebration of this shimmering Earth
Hardcover 102 pages
Ask me to mail a copy to you: $25 + $5.00 shipping
*Is there a library you'd like to donate Geosmin to?*
sample poem
At a Loss
There is no word
for this waking wonder of day
that never ends, even in dark
where the creek lets out as endless line
its liquid canon
a song that goes on
through the facies
whether rock
or not.
If we take down these hills,
crush and slam frac sand deep against shale
there is no word to tell
how these lands shone with corn,
with bone of mastodon
or crystalline stone,
and once rolled as waves in ocean.
When I wake
I have no word
for the shifting soil
singing beneath
the soles of my feet −
even Thanks seems so fleet.
I have only the words spoken
before sunrise −
before migizi has flown:
Good Morning.
Migizi is the Anishinaabemowin word for bald eagle. Migizi flies at dawn
to see if humans remember to greet the day so that the world may continue.
* * * * *
Catherine Young celebrates land in such a wholehearted way that she nearly becomes the fir tree, “sheathed in resinous green, pulling at the sky / drinking sun." One might purchase Geosmin simply for its rich and varied vocabulary.
Joyce Sutphen, author of Carrying Water to the Field: New and Selected Poems
“ Catherine Young bears witness to the soil, the water and sky, and the amazing richness of a landscape and soulscape that is at once painfully beautiful and alluring and, at the same time, in sad decline. This is “the real America,” she says, “a place / where everyone can freely play together as everything crumbles.” Young is, I think, a fresh and invaluable voice in American poetry, her linguistic strength vivid in each poem in this pristine collection. She’s the real thing, and I celebrate her and Geosmin.”
Jay Parini, author of NEW AND COLLECTED POEMS, 1975-2015
Worlds within worlds unfold, ambered in words, as we follow her wanderings on the land. We roam through a year of change, in the Driftless region, and explore the workings of memory. Young’s Geosmin envelopes us in the sense texture of a region, and distills its perfume.
Petra Kuppers, author of Gut Botany
In the tradition of Gary Snyder, Mary Oliver, and Louise Glück. These poems honor rural life and the earth itself, poems concerned with the soil, with water, with the changing seasons, and with language. In short, they grapple with what it means to be human and one part of this fragile and natural world. --
Christopher Chambers, editor of Midwest Review
If you live in Wisconsin (Madison to LaCrosse) please purchase
a book directly from me.
Contact me at:
** catherineyoungwriter@gmail.com **
Or support your favorite independent bookstore
Ask them to order ISBN 978-1-952526-09-1
******************************************************
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
I am pleased to share these published essays
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
I am pleased to share these published essays
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
"Smoke" in About Place Journal : Geographies of Justice
In September 2020 we received news of West Coast wildfires.
In the Midwest two thousand miles away, skies became white with ash .
For me, the skies brought memories of an earlier time in my life.
Read here: https://aboutplacejournal.org/issues/geographies-of-justice/the-unravelling/catherine-young/
________________________________
Photo by Kathryn Meyer
The Crystalline Bed of St. Peter
Catherine Young
Still Point Art Quarterly Spring 2021
Issue 41 My Deep Love of Place
Is it strange to say I am in love with the bedrock where I live?
I am smitten with the layers of limestone and sandstone that line these Wisconsin hills, and to my eyes, these hills are the loveliest of golden layer cakes...
Read here: http://catherineyoungwriter.weebly.com/the-crystalline-bed-of-st-peter.html
Listen here:
........................................................................................................................................................
........................................................................................................................................................
........................................................................................................................................................
* My memoir piece "In That River I Saw Him Again" was selected as a Semifinalist
in the Hippocampus 2020
Remember in November Contest for Creative Nonfiction:
Read here: https://www.hippocampusmagazine.com/2020/11/in-that-river-i-saw-him-again-by-catherine-young/
in the Hippocampus 2020
Remember in November Contest for Creative Nonfiction:
Read here: https://www.hippocampusmagazine.com/2020/11/in-that-river-i-saw-him-again-by-catherine-young/
******************************************************************
******************************************************************
******************************************************************
Zoom singing? Yes!!
Life is better when we sing together,
so come get your collective dose of musical joy!
~~~ Come SING! ~~~~
Zoom with me into
Quarantunes Singalong
online
See the Song Crafter Page of this website for more details.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
......................................................................................................................................................................
THANK YOU
for helping me move
INVOCATION poster poem out in the world.
for helping me move
INVOCATION poster poem out in the world.
Support this 11 x 17 inch poem poster with a donation.
Frame it for your wall or place it out in your neighborhood.
Help me send INVOCATION poem poster
across Wisconsin as public art.
Living and working on the land in Wisconsin for 40 years, I have
experienced grace and catastrophe, both.
This poem, INVOCATION: CALL IT HOME* was seeded during the flooding
of 2007-2008, when I realized how so many of us cannot leave these waters, this land.
I made this poem to remind us to
invoke and celebrate what matters to us .
*To read the text of this poem go to the INVOCATION page of this website.*
~Many thanks to Stephanie Motz for this beautiful poster design. ~
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Thanks to all who came to readings.
Though Bona Fide, the publisher, is no longer in business,
I still have a few copies of PV II for sale.
Contact me if you are interested.
Thanks to all who came to readings.
Though Bona Fide, the publisher, is no longer in business,
I still have a few copies of PV II for sale.
Contact me if you are interested.
Permanent Vacation II:
Eighteen Writers on Work and Life in Our National Parks
...was published by Bona Fide Books in June 2018.
Within it you'll find my essay "Island Voices" about my time as a ranger on Raspberry Island in the Apostle Islands National Lakeshore.
I'm very excited to be part of this collection which features two other essays about Lake Superior--another from the Apostles and one from Isle Royale.
Sadly, the publisher closed its doors in December 2018.
You can still listen to the podcast of Island Voices Here and you can find a version of the story in The Island Review:
http://theislandreview.com/content/island-voices-raspberry-island-lake-superior-lighthouse-catherine-young-memoir
If you read "Island Voices," or listen to my recording, let me know what you think.
Eighteen Writers on Work and Life in Our National Parks
...was published by Bona Fide Books in June 2018.
Within it you'll find my essay "Island Voices" about my time as a ranger on Raspberry Island in the Apostle Islands National Lakeshore.
I'm very excited to be part of this collection which features two other essays about Lake Superior--another from the Apostles and one from Isle Royale.
Sadly, the publisher closed its doors in December 2018.
You can still listen to the podcast of Island Voices Here and you can find a version of the story in The Island Review:
http://theislandreview.com/content/island-voices-raspberry-island-lake-superior-lighthouse-catherine-young-memoir
If you read "Island Voices," or listen to my recording, let me know what you think.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Catherine's performance of "Subtle" from
Intersections 2018: Writing from Planet Earth
April 22, 2018 Olbrich Gardens Madison, Wisconsin
VIDEO LINK TO READING AND SONG:
https://drive.google.com/file/d/1d89SblLP99d6juvcn1D5YK1cVnnLtsQ0
Arts + Literature Laboratory and Black Earth Institute invited me to read as one of the writers exploring the Earth and landscape
as the ultimate context for words, actions, hopes, and fears and as a local writer
opposing the Cardinal Hickory Creek transmission line and defending the Driftless Area.
http://artlitlab.org/events/intersections-2018-writing-from-planet-earth
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Catherine's Essay Water Song now part of UW Press anthology
The Driftless Reader
Go to - https://aboutplacejournal.org/issues/the-future-of-water/work/catherine-young/
My essay Water Song is now part of The Driftless Reader, an anthology of over two centuries of writings about the people, land, and history of the Driftless region.
I am excited to be part of this collection which includes writers and environmental thinkers whose work I have long admired Aldo Leopold, John Muir, Ben Logan and Laura Ingalls Wilder, among many others.
I am excited to be part of this collection which includes writers and environmental thinkers whose work I have long admired Aldo Leopold, John Muir, Ben Logan and Laura Ingalls Wilder, among many others.
More than voice of our Wisconsin Driftless Area farm, the
spring creek is an artery in a water heart—alive and pulsing.
It is a twig on a water tree, and its course shapes the branch
of a trout stream called Dieter Hollow Creek, which in turn,
is part of the great water tree called the Mississippi River. In
spring, the winged ones in the sky follow the trail of water
from trunk to twig and then in fall, back again from twig
to trunk. —Catherine Young, from Water Song (2013)
The farmstead stood on a hilltop, like a castle, like the center of the
world. . . . Look in any direction and there were other ridges, with dots
of houses and barns, and the blue shadows of other ridges still beyond
them, each a whole world away from the next narrow ridge. Down
below, in the valley, was yet another world. The valleys had different
trees and animals. Even the seasons were different. —Ben Logan, from
The Land Remembers: The Story of a Farm and Its People (1975)
Great to meet you and share stories of our land.
I hope to see you at other readings and events for The Driftless Reader.
I hope to see you at other readings and events for The Driftless Reader.
