Finding Kinship in Nature
Marina Richie
Exciting news! Feathered Forest: Aloft with Birds in Ancient Trees with Chelsea Green Publishing comes out September 8, 2026. Foreword by David George Haskell. I’m thrilled with the beautiful cover. Many thanks to Chelsea Green Publishing. Stay tuned for a pre-order link.
Marina Richie is an award-winning nature writer living in Bend, Oregon. Halcyon Journey: In Search of the Belted Kingfisher received the 2024 John Burroughs Medal for Distinguished Nature Writing.
Halcyon Journey: In Search of the Belted Kingfisher
2024 John Burroughs Medal
2022 National Outdoor Book Award
2022 Foreword Indies Award.
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“Rambling among ancient forests and tuning to birds as research for my new book
opened my senses to wonder in a three-dimensional world of wild trees.”
Nature Author, Poet, and Speaker
marina richie
writing for the wilds
Marina Richie is the author of the forthcoming book, Feathered Forest: Aloft with Birds in Ancient Trees (September 2026). Her book, Halcyon Journey, In Search of the Belted Kingfisher, earned the 2024 John Burroughs Medal for outstanding nature writing, a National Outdoor Book Award (gold), and a Foreword Indies Award (silver). She also wrote two children’s books, Bird Feats of Montana and Bug Feats of Montana. Her poems and prose accompany artist Robin Coen’s watercolors in Refugia of the Blue Mountains, a traveling exhibit with an accompanying book.
Marina’s writing appears in literary and popular magazines, online publications, in book collections, and on her website. She gives keynote talks, podcast interviews, teaches nature writing, and serves on the board of the Greater Hells Canyon Council.
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Books
Feathered Forest: Aloft with Birds in Ancient Trees
Beginning with an ascent of a 200-foot-tall Douglas-fir with a bird biologist, author Marina Richie leads us from her home in Central Oregon into the ancient forests of Cascadia, a bioregion which rivals the Amazonian rainforest in significance for climate and biodiversity.
Birds are guides to intricate and imperiled communities thriving at every level, from understory to midstory to overstory. They steer us to cool havens within multilayered, centuries-old groves that are critical refugia in a time of climate crisis. Their songs and flights show us what we must protect for the future of threatened birds, forests, and humankind.
Halcyon Journey, In Search of the Belted Kingfisher
This first book to feature North America’s belted kingfisher is a lyrical story of observation, revelation, and curiosity in the presence of flowing waters.
Far-flung adventures to other continents in search of kingfisher kin deepen the author’s relationship with Montana birds. In winter, she explores tribal stories of the kingfisher as messenger and helper.
By water’s edge, she reconciles the loss of her naturalist father and taps into her own powers, inspired by the bird of the headfirst plunge and rattling call.
Bird Feats of Montana
Discover the Big Sky’s fastest, largest, smartest, and boldest birds in Bird Feats of Montana, Including Yellowstone and Glacier National Parks. The book features 114 brilliant color photographs by renowned wildlife photographer Donald M. Jones and 12 exquisitely detailed illustrations by James Lindquist.
Written for children ages 8 to 12, this playful and informative book covers 40 of the state’s birds.
halcyon journey Reviews
“We come to know birds and ourselves in new light through this passionate and inspiring exploration. Wonder emerges from meticulous and loving observation of the bright lives of kingfishers.”
David George Haskell
Author
“In exquisite prose, Marina Richie takes the reader on a meditative and dynamic dive into her search for the kingfisher. Some stories wake us up in time to make a difference. Halcyon Journey is one of those stories. It is also a wondrous story that will transport you.”
Debra Magpie Earling
Author
“In a world that is rapidly losing its birds, we need reminders of how glorious they really are – their songs, their colors, their eagerness for life. Halcyon Journey is a lively, joyous celebration of kingfishers and rivers, by a writer whose love for birds sings on the page.”
Kathleen Dean Moore
Author
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