Environmental writing blends art and advocacy, inviting us to reflect on our relationship with the natural world. Whether documenting local ecosystems or highlighting global challenges, environmental writing isn’t simply another writing genre, it’s a call for action and a plea to pay attention.
Through thoughtful reflection, disciplined research, and heartfelt storytelling, the environmental writer can influence how others see, understand, and care for our planet. In other words, great writing doesn’t simply inform; the following authors and their works invite readers into the world’s beauty and its crises:
Essays
“Deep Intellect,” by Sy Montgomery, WtW’s 2023 guest judge
“I Am Haunted by What I Have Seen at Great Salt Lake,” by Terry Tempest Williams
“Raptorous,” by Brian Doyle
“The Land Ethic,” by Aldo Leopold
“The Really Big One,” by Kathryn Schulz
“The Uninhabitable Earth,” by David Wallace-Wells
“To Save the Future, Live in the Present,” (from Our Only World) by Wendell Berry
“Undersea,” by Rachel Carson
“Whale Fall,” by Rebecca Giggs
“Where a River Meets the Ocean,” by Anna Gibbs, WtW’s Competition Manager
Nonfiction Books
A Sand County Almanac, by Aldo Leopold
An Immense World, by Ed Yong
Braiding Sweetgrass, by Robin Wall Kimmerer
Core Samples, by Anna Farro Henderson, WtW’s 2025 guest judge
Encounters with the Archdruid, by John McPhee
Love Letter to the Earth, by Thich Nhat Hanh
Pilgrim at Tinker Creek, by Annie Dillard
Silent Spring, by Rachel Carson
The Sixth Extinction, by Elizabeth Kolbert
This Changes Everything, by Naomi Klein
What Are People For, by Wendell Berry
Looking for more inspiration? We highly recommend checking out these superb excerpts, as well as the writing of last year’s competition finalists!
