The Nature of Our Times: Poems on America's Lands, Waters, Wildlife, and Other Natural Wonders

The Nature of Our Times: Poems on America's Lands, Waters, Wildlife, and Other Natural Wonders

A Poets for Science anthology and companion to the first national assessment of U.S. lands, waters, and wildlife

Edited by Luisa A. Igloria, Aileen Cassinetto, and David Hassler; Foreword by Phillip Levin

WINNER, 2026 AMERICAN LEGACY BOOK AWARDS

Originally envisioned as a companion to the first-ever U.S. National Nature Assessment (NNA1) and now to the work of United By Nature, this anthology features 210 voices from the arts, ecology, academia, and Indigenous communities nationwide giving witness to how nature shapes our lives and how we can shape the future.

The Nature of Our Times is a shared initiative, bringing together the joint efforts of Paloma Press, Poets for Science, United By Nature, and Wick Poetry Center at Kent State University, and is made possible with grant support from the Ohio Arts Council, the San Mateo County Office of Arts and Culture and its Arts Commission, and the Woodward Foundation. This anthology serves as a companion to the first national assessment of U.S. lands, waters, and wildlife.

Praise for The Nature of Our Times:

"In a time of profound ecological change, The Nature of Our Times offers a lyrical companion to the United By Nature Initiative-an independent, science-led assessment of nature's status, benefits, and future in the United States. The poems in this volume channel the wonder, urgency, and responsibility of living in relationship with the natural world. Grounded in both science and soul, this anthology amplifies the human dimension of ecosystems and reminds us that knowledge alone is not enough-we need empathy and imagination to fuel a path forward. This is a book to stir the heart, expand the mind, and inspire action." -Jane Lubchenco, Ph.D., University Distinguished Professor, Oregon State University and co-founder of the United By Nature Initiative

"These poems miraculously awaken the eyes, ears, nose, tongue and fingers: to bees and bark and bears. And to how a few blades of switchgrass, or a kiting hawk, might describe the wind. Careful readers will re-member themselves in the natural world-our forgotten belonging and vast response-abilities." -Tom Montgomery Fate, Professor Emeritus, College of DuPage and author of Cabin Fever and The Long Way Home

"What these poems share is a willingness to pay attention. And that attention is not passive. It is a form of care. A choice to stay in relationship with a world that is changing, but not yet lost. That is the thread connecting this book to the larger work of the United By Nature Initiative. We are not just assembling data. We are building a portrait of nature in this country―and of the people who live in relationship with it." -Phillip Levin, Ph.D., Professor of Practice, University of Washington and Director of the United By Nature Initiative