I’m very excited to share a recent conversation I had with David Naimon, host of Between the Covers. A bit about the show:

Between the Covers , a literary radio show and podcast hosted by David Naimon, is brought to you by Tin House. These long-form in-depth conversations have been singled out by the Guardian, Book Riot, the Financial Times, and BuzzFeed as one of the most notable book podcasts for writers and readers around. 

I’ve been a big fan of David’s interviews for years, having come across his work through his three craft talks with Ursula K. Le Guin, which was later published as the book Conversations on Writing. (His own creative writing is also amazing.) So imagine my delight and surprise when he approached me to contribute to a new series called “Crafting with Ursula,” in particular around the subject of nature writing.

Some of the stories we discussed, like “Direction of the Road” and the “Author of Acacia Seeds“, have been featured in the past here on Ekostories. Others, like “The Bones of the Earth” and “Vaster than Empires and More Slow,” are worth checking out should you be intrigued by our all-too-brief exploration of them. We also discussed a few of the essays that will be part of my upcoming collection titled “Utter, Earth” through West Virginia University Press.

Well-researched, perceptive, and erudite, David kindly linked all the Le Guin stories that were mentioned throughout the episode via Bookshop, along with some of my personal touchstones within the genre of nature writing.

I hope you enjoy listening to our conversation as much as I enjoyed delving into this subject with David. If you do, consider subscribing to and supporting Between the Covers—it’s honestly one of the best shows on writing and literature around!