Earth's natural wonders celebrated in new series of literary companions
In spring 2007 Greystone Books will launch a series of carefully selected nature, natural history, exploration, and adventure anthologies. Each book in the collection focuses on a particular natural or geographic feature and evokes, through the words of gifted writers, the spirit of the natural element. Comprising compact, easy-to-pack, quality editions, the series features selections from the finest literary nature and travel writing in the world, in English and in translation. From the classical to the modern, from the wilds of hitherto unexplored regions to the world outside our doorsteps, the writers selected for each title capture the magical power, beauty and awe-inspiring grandeur of the natural world. The first two anthologies to be released will explore the majesty of mountains and the lure of rivers and lakes.
In Dark Waters Dancing to a Breeze (the title comes from naturalist Henry Walter Bates on the river Tocantins on his way to Amazonia: "It was a grand sight — a broad expanse of dark waters dancing merrily to a breeze; the opposite shore, a narrow blue line, miles away"), our fascination with water finds full expression in the writings of explorers, adventurers, natural historians and even novelists. Mark Twain marvels at the teeming humanity on the Ganges. Henry Stanley, searching for Livingston in darkest Africa, discovers Lake Albert Edward, the source of the Albertine Nile: "Our first view...was utterly unlike any view we ever had before of land or water of a new region." Theodore Dreiser gives us his impression of the Thames, "a murky little stream above London Bridge...but utterly delightful." Of course, rivers and lakes contain fish, and fishing has inspired some of the best writing about water, from Izaak Walton's The Compleat Angler to Norman Maclean's classic A River Runs Through It. Australian novelist Kate Grenville captures the foreboding awe of rivers that draw us into new territory in The Secret River; and Bruce Hutchison imparts the mighty fury of unleashed water in The Fraser. A unique and surprising collection from 24 writers, Dark Waters Dancing to a Breeze lures us away from the security of the shore and plunges us into the beauty and mystery of water on the move.
Wayne Grady is one of Canada's foremost popular science writers and the winner of three Science in Society awards from the Canadian Science Writers Association. His ten previously published nonfiction books recounted such diverse adventures as hunting dinosaurs in the Gobi Desert, investigating global warming at the North Pole, and discovering the wild in an urban metropolis. In 2004 he collaborated with acclaimed geneticist and environmentalist David Suzuki on Tree: A Life Story, a bestseller in Canada now in its third printing. Most recently, he published Bringing Back the Dodo (2006), a work that expanded on his natural science columns for Explore magazine. In addition to his award-winning work in science and nature fields, he has received the Governor General's Award for English Translation, several National Magazine Awards, and the Brascan Award for Food Writing. He is married to the writer Merilyn Simonds and lives near Kingston, Ontario.
You can buy this book online at chapters.indigo.ca or amazon.ca, or find it at your local bookstore.
