Scott Russell Sanders
Earth Writer
Scott Russell Sanders defines himself as an "Earth Writer". He has a great passion for the earth and the land - which is perhaps due to the circumstance that his father comes from a family of cotton farmers. He spent his school and university years in Ohio, where he earned his PhD in English. His work as Distinguished Professor in English brought him to Bloomington, Indiana, where he still lives with his family. He has received numerous awards for his literary achievements.
By now he has written more than 20 books - novels, stories, works of personal nonfiction, including Staying Put, Hunting for Hope, and A Private History of Awe. In A Conservationist Manifesto he lays out his vision of a shift from a culture of consumption to a culture of caretaking. Following he published Earth Works, the novel Divine Animal and Dancing in Dreamtime, a collection of eco-science fiction stories and others. Furthermore, he writes children's books. Currently, Scott Russell Sanders is working on short stories, a book about the meaning of wealth, and a collection of essays about the role of imagination in an age of climate disruption.
"Earth is not a raw resource, it’s not a warehouse; it’s a living community in which we are members."
In the interview with Andrew Keen he talks about the importance of the Rewilding Movement, about his thoughts about the need to return to nature. About the role of mankind on our planet, which in his opinion needs to be exploited less and wooed more. And about hierarchies and their impact on our environment. In other words: How hierarchies affect human beings' exploitative relationship with the earth. He is deeply convinced that "(…) we were born into this world and we have a profound responsibility not to deplete, not to damage, not to diminish that inheritance, but to pass it onto those humans who come after us in as rich and healthy a condition as we received it."
