This week on The question of writing, Lauren chats with Bozeman, Montana essayist Amy Leach about her modern bestiary, The whole world, in which she brings together a cacophony of voices – of the many, many animals that inhabit our world – to illuminate the joy that we humans often overlook and take for granted, especially in this time of planetary catastrophe. Satirically and hilariously, Leach reminds us that, human or non-human, we are all in the same boat.
About Amy:
Winner of a Whiting Award, a Rona Jaffe Foundation Award and a Pushcart Prize, Amy Leach grew up in Texas. His work appeared in The best American trials, The best American writing on science and nature, and numerous publications, including A public space, Orion, Tin house, and the Los Angeles Book Review. The whole world is his second book.
Amy Leach recommends:
Illness until death by Søren Kierkegaard (Princeton University Press)
Letters about Cézanne by Rainer Maria Rilke (North Point Press)
Julius Caesar by William Shakespeare (Penguin Random House)
Lauren Korn recommends:
The things that are by Amy Leach (Milkweed editions)
Braiding Sweet Hay: Indigenous Wisdom, Science, and Plant Teachings by Robin Wall Kimmerer (Milkweed Editions)
The Book of Delights by Ross Gay (Algonquin Books)