Shetterly is also the author of the essay collection Settled in the Wild and several children’s books. She has received a nonfiction writing grant from the National Endowment for the Arts and two grants from the Maine Arts Commission.
Seaweed. You may not realize it, but it’s almost impossible to go through a day without encountering it, whether it’s on your favorite sushi roll, hiding in your cosmetics, or incorporated into your vitamin supplement. But beyond that, seaweed is utterly essential to our world. It produces much of the oxygen we breathe, forms the basis of all marine life, and serves as the linchpin for coastal communities across the globe. With lyrical prose, acclaimed nature writer Susan Hand Shetterly plumbs the depths of the most overlooked yet ubiquitous species on earth in Seaweed Chronicles: A World at the Water’s Edge (publication date: August 7, 2018; $24.95).
Beginning in her native Maine, then expanding to Canada, Wales, Japan, the Philippines, and beyond, Shetterly pulls back the curtain on the hidden world of seaweed. Through her own research and through interviews with marine biologists, conservationists, aquaculturists, and others, she offers a look into the extraordinary life cycle of seaweed, teaching readers about its role in local environments and its interconnected global significance. Shetterly also introduces us to the people and communities that depend on seaweed—and how they are working to protect this critical natural resource. As traditional hand harvesting gives way to industrialized methods, and as chefs, scientists, and businesses recognize seaweed’s wide-ranging applications, Shetterly examines the big questions of conservation that have come to light. “What must remain wild for the health of the planet, and what can we responsibly take, as we face climate change and diminishing natural resources?” she asks. “It’s the struggle between protection and use that goes on everywhere in the world.”
Shetterly is the author of the essay collection Settled in the Wild and several children’s books. She has received a nonfiction writing grant from the National Endowment for the Arts and two grants from the Maine Arts Commission.
In Seaweed Chronicles, fans of The Soul of an Octopus and The Hidden Life of Trees will see the wonders of the natural world anew through Shetterly’s richly informative yet elegant storytelling. I hope you’ll find this vital resource as surprising and worthy of conservation as I do, and will share this book widely with your audience.
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