SOIL The Story of a Black Mother's Garden

In this quiet and far-ranging blend of memoir, history, and nature writing, poet Camille T. Dungy uses her small garden in Colorado to explore topics ranging from the isolation of parenting during Covid to the history of Black nature writing. Her narration, like her writing, is both careful and warm. In her prose and with her voice, she excels at drawing vivid pictures. It's impossible not to feel like you're right there with her, tending to native prairie grasses and harvesting baskets of colorful squash. This is a beautiful meditation on the complex web of human and nonhuman relationships that surround us, and a welcome addition to the growing canon of environmental literature that centers the knowledge and experiences of Black women. L.S. © AudioFile 2023, Portland, Maine [Published: SEPTEMBER 2023]