Dear friends and readers,

My big news: My book Early Warming was selected for Western Washington University's Freshman Read! That means 4000+ first-year students will be receiving copies of Early Warming at their orientation and will be involved in a year's programming around the book and climate change issues. I'm happy not just for myself and book sales but that so many young people will be addressing such a critical issue. And I just can't help sharing what the good folks at WWU had to say about my book. Here's from the email: "Our committee looked at a dozen climate change books, and we felt that yours best suited our needs at WWU. We particularly appreciated your smart presentation of climate change issues through embedded stories; your narrative presents climate science lucidly and addresses the politics of climate change astutely. But what we appreciated most of all was how you got all of us to care very much about this topic through the moving stories that connected us to the land, the native peoples, the animals, the scientists, and the environmentalists. We also liked having a book that detailed climate change issues 'in our own backyard.' In short, we were compelled by your focus on the human story and your awareness of environmental justice issues."

Coming up: * Kachemak Bay Writers Conference June 14-18. I'll be presenting workshops on irony and spiritual writing (two separate sessions), and our keynote writer will be Naomi Shihab Nye.

Check out our most excellent low-rez grad program at UAA, in which I teach nonfiction and sometimes fiction writing. Our three newest faculty are Andromeda Romano-Lax in fiction, Sean (John) O'Grady in nonfiction, and Liz Bradfield in poetry. Dates are July 13-25. The evening readings by faculty, guests, and graduating students are open to the public, and podcasts can be found here.

What I've been reading: * The anthology, Arctic Voices: Resistance at the Tipping Point, edited by Subhankar Banerjee and including an adapted excerpt from my book Early Warming. My excerpt is available at Utne On-line. Also just reread The Great Gatsby (before seeing the movie.)

Among my volunteer work is serving on the board of the Alaska Conservation Foundation. Lots of good stuff on our website, so please check it out!

Look for me as well on Facebook.

From my friend Kathy Moore: "I've stopped asking what is politically feasible and ask instead what is morally required."

Happy summer solstice to all!

Nancy