Orion Magazine

Orion is proud to present a new four-part series, "Future Imperfect," dedicated to the crises we’ve inherited and the uneasy compromises they’ve forced upon us. In our first story (https://lnkd.in/exVBpAvg), Diane Wilson writes movingly about her desire to restore the ten acres of Minnesotan bog she had shared with her late husband. When she learns that healing her land will require further destruction, she must ask herself whether what she seeks is restoration or reinvention. What if the only way home is through the fire?                                  —@Nathaniel Rich, series editor   This series was generously sponsored by the Fine Fund. #restoration #landrestoration #habitatloss #wetlands

If you are out and about at the Brooklyn Book Festival this soggy day, pop over to booth 420 to chat with Orion, Mizna, and Oxford American and other Whiting Foundation award winners.

Orion and ASU Center for Science and the Imagination present a conversation between two leading authors of speculative writing - Victor LaValle and Carmen Maria Machado - to celebrate the launch of Orion's most recent anthology "Unnatural Disasters" The free virtual event will take place at 11 am ET on Wednesday, Oct. 3. Registration is required. https://lnkd.in/e2nZ-D7t "Unnatural Disasters" collects the scariest stories published in the pages of Orion. Featuring work by writers including Amy Irvine, Carmen Maria Machado, and Joel Wilkins, and a foreword by Victor LaValle, these tales of enchantment, danger, and survival give a chilling glimpse into nature's dark side. The event will be moderated by Orion's editor-at-large and "Unnatural Disasters" co-editor Christopher Cox.

This conversation between Lauret Savoy and Tiya Miles, two American Book Award winners, took place a year ago, and it remains relevant today as society continuously grapples with who has access to the outdoors. Who belongs out in "the wild"? Who gets to decide?

We're #hiring a new Director of Development And Communications. Apply today or share this post with your network. #fundraising #communications #remotework

Whether you write for a living, write for the joy of it, or use words to get ideas across to your LinkedIn peers, Orion is offering three online writing workshops this fall for the environmental writer in all of us. Class size is limited. Applications are due July 30. Learn more here: https://lnkd.in/evDEMgMs #writing #nonfiction #systemchange #environment

We’re planning a celebration for next summer (2025) of all things mushrooms: foraging for them, encountering them on grocery store shelves, even swimming by them. Send us your pitch (not full stories, please) for nonfiction stories about important mushrooms in history. We need your ideas about emperors poisoned by mushrooms, brilliant mushroom heists, or religious leaders who prayed to mushrooms. Submission guidelines and more can be found here: https://lnkd.in/ewMS2Dfb The Summer 2025 submission window closes on July 30, 2024.

As we draw our current strategic plan to a close, we write today to share news of significant evolution in our organization’s leadership. After more than three years of working in service of our mission to “bring readers into a community of caring for the planet,” Amy Brady is preparing to leave her role as Executive Director. Under Amy’s leadership, Orion found itself in a position of unprecedented strength, as the team successfully created and implemented a strategic plan, established an annual gala, built remarkable partnerships that greatly extended Orion’s reach, diversified and exponentially grew philanthropic funding, expanded Orion’s online workshops program, and soon, will launch a new website. Amy is taking on a new role at a journalism nonprofit and will stay on as a special advisor to Orion. In this special advisor role, Amy will continue to support the organization’s mission and vision, lending her experience and passion for Orion’s work.   On the editorial side, Editor-in-Chief Sumanth Prabhaker will transition to the role of Editor-at-Large, allowing him to continue to support the development of the magazine while also pursuing other creative projects. In his six years at Orion, Sumanth oversaw efforts to redesign the magazine and brought in a new cohort of environmental storytellers whose work was celebrated with Orion’s first National Endowment for the Arts Award in over ten years and its first-ever Whiting Award for Magazine Excellence.    We are extremely excited to announce that Tajja Isen, former Editor-in-Chief of Catapult and author of Some of My Best Friends, will serve as interim Editor-in-Chief.   And we are also excited to announce that Orion’s Director of Finance and Operations, Donovan Arthen, will step forward to serve as interim Executive Director. Donovan has provided the organizational backbone on which Orion has relied for the last three years, building internal systems that strengthened the organization’s financial and operational foundation at a time of unprecedented volatility in our industry. In addition to continuing in that capacity, he will also work in the coming months with Orion’s staff and Board of Directors to build on our recent successes and find rich new ways to pursue Orion’s mission. “Amy’s leadership and Sumanth’s editorial vision have been integral to Orion’s recent years of growth,” said Elizabeth Lucas, chair of the board of directors. “They have inspired an ever-expanding community of care for the planet and prepared Orion for a promising future. ”   As we look to the future, we will be announcing national searches for members of the leadership team, who together will inherit an inspired legacy from which to grow the next leg of Orion’s journey.   With gratitude, The Orion Team

Join Orion Magazine and American Rivers to celebrate the launch of Orion‘s summer issue, “Swimming Lessons: Staying Afloat in Our Flooded Future.” This issue of Orion, generously sponsored by American Rivers, examines the history and present-day experience of floods, not to protect ourselves against them, but to relearn how we might coexist with them. JUNE 26 @ 1:00 PM - 2:00 PM EDT FREE Registration A free 1-year membership to American Rivers is included in event registration. By registering you agree to American Rivers’ privacy policy & to receive American Rivers mailings. #water #rivers #flood #environment #climatechange

Our pitch window is about to close! With help from our friend Lulu Miller of Radiolab fame, we are preparing an issue on queer ecology—a celebration of the plants, landscapes, and creatures that have always existed, and a technicolor refutation to the idea that queerness is unnatural— and we’re looking for stories about food. Deadline is May 25. Send us your pitches about the queer ingredients in your pantry and the queer crops in your garden. Pitches (not full stories!) should be for nonfiction (essay, memoir, or reporting), and no more than a page or so. Can't make this deadline? Don't fret. Our pitch window will be open again in July.