Nevada Reads

Miracle Country: A Memoir

Kendra Atleework was born and raised on the dry edge of California at the eastern base of the Sierra Nevada mountains. She moved away for a decade, mostly spent being homesick and researching the place she left behind—the product of which is her first book, Miracle Country, winner of the Sigurd F. Olson Nature Writing Award and 2021 pick for the statewide program Nevada Reads. Kendra holds an MFA in writing from the University of Minnesota. She has been awarded fellowships and residencies from the Bread Loaf Writers Conference, the Anderson Center, and the Minnesota State Arts Board. Her writing has appeared in Best American Essays, The Atlantic, The Los Angeles Times, and elsewhere. She is a recipient of the Ellen Meloy Fund for Desert Writers Award and lives in her hometown of Bishop, California, where she can be found roaming the mountains and desert and growing a big garden.

Kendra Atleework was born and raised on the dry edge of California at the eastern base of the Sierra Nevada mountains. She moved away for a decade, mostly spent being homesick and researching the place she left behind—the product of which is Miracle Country. She is the recipient of the Ellen Meloy Desert Writers Award and was selected for The Best American Essays, edited by Ariel Levy. She received her MFA in creative writing from the University of Minnesota and now lives in her hometown of Bishop, California.

World of Wonders: In Praise of Fireflies, Whale Sharks, and Other Astonishments

From beloved, award-winning poet Aimee Nezhukumatathil comes a debut work of nonfiction—a collection of essays about the natural world, and the way its inhabitants can teach, support, and inspire us. As a child, Nezhukumatathil called many places home: the grounds of a Kansas mental institution, where her Filipina mother was a doctor; the open skies and tall mountains of Arizona, where she hiked with her Indian father; and the chillier climes of western New York and Ohio. But no matter where she was transplanted—no matter how awkward the fit or forbidding the landscape—she was able to turn to our world’s fierce and funny creatures for guidance. Even in the strange and the unlovely, Nezhukumatathil finds beauty and kinship. For it is this way with wonder: it requires that we are curious enough to look past the distractions in order to fully appreciate the world’s gifts. Warm, lyrical, and gorgeously illustrated by Fumi Nakamura, World of Wonders is a book of sustenance and joy.

Aimee Nezhukumatathil is the author of the New York Times best-selling collection of illustrated nature essays, World of Wonders: In Praise of Fireflies, Whale Sharks, and Other Astonishments, finalist for the Kirkus Prize in non-fiction. She also has published four award-winning poetry collections and other awards for her writing include fellowships from the Guggenheim Foundation, Mississippi Arts Council, Mississippi Institute of Arts and Letters Award for poetry, and the National Endowment of the Arts. Her writing has appeared in the New York Times Magazine, ESPN, and twice in Best American Poetry. She is professor of English and Creative Writing in the University of Mississippi’s MFA program.

Part nature guide, part poetry book, and part workbook, this 100-page guide is comprised of poems by writers from around the state paired with art depicting Nevada’s natural beauty, as well as creative prompts accompanied by scientific text to inspire more active and reflective engagement with the world around us.