April 26th news flash. The audiobook of Halcyon Journey, In Search of the Belted Kingfisher is on sale for 60 percent off through May 10, 2024–by Tantor Media, read by Lisa Ware. Click here.
BIG NEWS!– I’m ecstatic and honored to be the 2024 recipient of the Burroughs Medal for distinguished nature writing in book form for Halcyon Journey, In Search of the Belted Kingfisher. I’m grateful to the John Burroughs Association and to my publisher Oregon State University Press.
HALCYON JOURNEY WINS 2024 BURROUGHS MEDALThe 2024 John Burroughs Medal for distinguished natural history writing in book form is awarded to Marina Richie for her book Halcyon Journey: In Search of the Belted Kingfisher, published by Oregon State University Press in 2022.
Watch my ten-minute acceptance speech here.
2024 CALENDAR OF EVENTS
Thursday, May 2, 2024. Refugia of the Blue Mountains opening reception at World Birds of Prey Center, Boise, Idaho. Featuring Robin Coen’s watercolors and Marina Richie’s prose and poetry. A Greater Hells Canyon Council Event. The exhibit will be on display through mid-July, 2024.
Tuesday, May 21, 2024. Presentation for Yaquina Birders and Naturalists, Newport, Oregon. 6:30 pm
Thursday, June 6, 2024. Presenting to BOGS (Birds of Oregon and General Science), Springfield, Oregon, from 9 am to 11 am at the Willamalane Adult Activity Center.
Saturday/Sunday, June 8-9, 2024. “Bird Word.” I’m teaching at Sitka Center for Art and Ecology on the Oregon coast: Enter the sensory world of feathers, flight, and song. Combine bird observation with playful writing exercises designed to help us step out of our human selves. Read prose and poetry on birds for inspiration and discussions on the power of words to save species in trouble. Dive deep into one bird that calls you or skim among the many seabirds and songbirds enlivening the coast, forests, and meadows. PLEASE JOIN ME!
Saturday, September 21, 2024. Keynote Speaker. Wings Over Willapa Bird Festival, Washington.
MORE BOOK NEWS
I’m featured on Your Bird Story Podcast, December 14th –Speaking with Georgia Silvera Seaman on Halcyon Journey, In Search of the Belted Kingfisher.
LOOKING FOR A GIFT?
I’m happy to sign my book and mail a copy: Contact
me for ordering information: marinarichie1@gmail.com
BOOK CLUBS ARE CHOOSING HALCYON JOURNEY
The Environmental Book Club of Wilmington, North Carolina, chose my book in 2024. Is your book club choosing my book? Please keep me posted, and let me know if you’d like me to Zoom with your book club when discussed.
Halcyon Journey, In Search of the Belted Kingfisher is now available as an audiobook. I am grateful to Oregon State University Press for facilitating this recording. And I’m honored my book joins only two other books published by OSU Press that have become audiobooks: Mink River, by Brian Doyle and Gathering Moss, by Robin Wall Kimmerer.
PRIOR PRESENTATIONS
Monday, April 1, 2024. John Burroughs Medal Award presentation in New York City. You can watch my ten-minute acceptance speech here.
Thursday, April 11, 2024. Speaker at the Harney County Migratory Bird Festival (Malheur National Wildlife Refuge, Oregon). Recording is available here.
Saturday, April 13, 2024. Keynote speaker for Greater Hells Canyon Council’s Hellraiser event in Portland at Rossi Farms.
Tuesday, March 12, 2024: Zoom evening presentation for the Friends of Hackmatack National Wildlife Refuge (IIlinois),
Friday, November 3rd, 2023: I presented to an engaged crowd of kingfisher lovers–the Cape Fear Audubon Society in Wilmington, North Carolina. I was thrilled to be introduced by a favorite author–David Gessner, A Traveler’s Guide to the End of the World, Tales of Fire, Wind, and Water. (Wilmington’s NEA Big Read featured my reading and book as well).
Saturday, September 30th, I joined poet Annis Cassells for two readings on the Oregon Coast: Bandon Public Library,11:30 a.m. to 1 p.m.; and Sea Wolf Books in Port Orford, 2:30 p.m. to 4 p.m. I read from my book and included a few kingfisher-theme poems, too. Please check out Annis Cassell’s powerful and moving new book of poetry: What the Country Wrought.
JUNE 15, 2023 NEWS FLASH: HALCYON JOURNEY IS A 2022 INDIES WINNER!
Birding, the magazine of the American Birding Association, featured my article “Deep Birding” in their June 2023 issue. Click here to read the PDF.
TUNE IN! AMERICAN BIRDING ASSOCIATION PODCAST TO HEAR MY INTERVIEW WITH NATE SWICK
NEWS FLASH! DECEMBER 2022
HALCYON JOURNEY WINS NATIONAL OUTDOOR
BOOK AWARD!
“This is superb nature writing: engrossing, enlightening and
illuminating – and heralds the introduction of a new, powerful voice of the
genre.“- National Outdoor Book Award, 2022, Journeys category
“Richie is a gifted storyteller, and the many threads weave
together seamlessly. The result is what I describe as deep birding.”–
Matt Miller, director of science communications for The Nature Conservancy and
editor of the Cool Green Science blog
April 2023 News Flash: Montana Naturalist magazine features my article, “On the Wings of the Belted Kingfisher.” https://www.montananaturalist.org/wp-content/uploads/Naturalist-Spring-23.pdf
February 2023 News Flash: Halcyon Journey book review by Richard Huffines for Association of Field Ornithologists.
January 2023 News Flash: Halcyon Journey book review by Aisha White for American Birding Association:
December 2022 News Flash: Radio Interview-
The Write Question: Bird is the word: Grief, curiosity, and aerial ramming in Marina Richie’s ‘Halcyon Journey’
Portland KGW TV News features my book
Birdwatching Daily, November 21, 2022: Three Books about Birds Win National Outdoor Book Awards
Bend Bulletin newspaper article November 2022: Bend author dives into world of belted kingfisher in ‘Halcyon Journey’
September 1st half-hour interview on Coast Community Radio with Donna Quinn. Now available as a podcast episode of Talk of Our Towns.
Listen to my Field Note: Belted Kingfisher Community Science: A Head-Pounding Discovery
Newspaper article June 23, 2022: Search for a ‘bird of happiness’ with ‘Halcyon Journey’ author Marina Richie
Magazine article June 2022: “Why We Need a Naturalist Renaissance” my piece in Birdwatching Magazine. Also, see the Birdwatching Facebook Post
REVIEWS
Association of Field Ornithologists review- February 2023
American Birding Association review- January 2023
National Outdoor Book Award review- November 2022
The Birding Community E-Bulletin Review– October 2022
Book Review in Montana Naturalist Fall/Winter 2022-2023
The Revelator: These Books are For the Birds, September 2022
Amazon Book Reviews from Readers (please add yours!)
RECORDED PRESENTATIONS & RADIO INTERVIEWS & PODCASTS
John Burroughs Medal Acceptance Speech, April 1, 2024, Yale Club, NYC.
Harney County Migratory Bird Festival, Recorded Live, April 11, 2024, Burns, Oregon.
Hackmatack National Wildlife Refuge, Zoom, March 11, 2024 (fast forward to 5:19 to start).
Your Bird Story, December 23, 2023, Interview with host Georgia Silvera Seamans.
American Birding Association Podcast, May 18, 2023, Interview with host Nate Swick
Lane County Audubon Society, April 25, 2023: Secrets of the Belted Kingfisher
Red Barn Event, Wenatchee River Institute, April 12, 2023, Belted Kingfisher, Messenger of Wild Waterways
Audubon Society of Corvallis, March 16, 2023, Messenger of Wild Waterways
December 2022: Half-hour Interview on Montana Public Radio’s The Write Question
October 2022: Jackson Hole Bird & Nature Club: Halcyon Journey: In Search of the Belted Kingfisher
October 2022: Bitterbrush Chapter of Great Old Broads for Wilderness, plus Emily Cain’s presentation on Greater Hells Canyon Council. (Note-the sound quality isn’t the best, because this was a hybrid in-person/zoom event held in Bend, Oregon).
September 2022: Montana Book Festival, Missoula
September 1st 2022: Coast Community Radio–half-hour interview with Donna Quinn.
June 30 2022: Annie Bloom’s Bookstore, Portland–with author Travis Williams
June 1st 2022: Recorded Presentation for Oregon Wild: In Search of the Belted Kingfisher
April 2022: Portland Audubon Birdathon: The Secret Lives of Belted Kingfishers.
March 2022: Deschutes Public Library: Birds of Burrows
January 2022: Deschutes Public Library: Kingfisher Stories.
PRIOR EVENTS–OLDER
Thursday, August 17, 2023. 7:30 pm to 9 p.m. Wallowa Lake Lodge, Joseph, Oregon. “Flight of the Kingfisher”
Saturday, Aug. 5, 2023. Books by the Bay, North Bend, Oregon. Reading with poets Annis Cassells and Tom Mitchell, 1-3 pm.
Saturday, May 20, 2023, Canvasback Books, 4-5:30 pm reading and nature writing workshop, 1-3 pm at the library. Klamath Falls, Oregon.
Wednesday, May 24, 2023, Sunriver Nature Center, Sunriver, Oregon. Events here. Kingfisher Nature Walk 4:30-5:30 pm Presentation 6:00-7:00 pm. Blog here.
Tuesday, April 25, 2023, Lane County Audubon, Eugene, Oregon
Thursday, April 12, Wenatchee River Institute, Red Barn Event and April 13 nature writing workshop, Leavenworth, Washington
Thursday, April 20, 2023, Blue Mountain Audubon, Walla Walla, Washington
Wednesday, March 15, 2023, Beers, Books, & Belted Kingfishers–a fundraiser for Greater Hells Canyon Council, Worthy Brewing, Bend
Thursday, March 16, 2023, Audubon Society of Corvallis, Oregon
Saturday, February 25, 2 pm, Newport Public Library–co-presenting with Ram Papish, the book’s illustrator. Newport, Oregon.
February 17-20, 2023, Winter Wings Festival, Klamath Falls-Saturday speaker.
Saturday, January 28, 2023, 1-3 pm. Nature Writing Workshop, Public Library Downtown, Bend, Oregon
Wednesday, February 8, 2023, 6:30 pm to 7:30 pm, Roseburg Public Library & Umpqua Valley Audubon Society, Facebook Live Streaming Event
Thursday, January 19, 2023, Presentation for East Cascades Audubon Society, Bend, Oregon
December 10-11, 2022, Portland Audubon’s Wild Arts Festival, Portland, Oregon. See related news story featuring my book.
Sunday, November 20, 2022, Dudley’s Bookshop Cafe, Bend, Oregon. Reading & signing–4 pm to 6 pm.
Saturday, October 29, 2022, Oakshire Brewing, Eugene, Oregon, Reading with fellow author Tom Titus, 4 pm.
Sunday, October 23, 2022, event at Wells Farm hosted by Vermont Family Forests, Lincoln, Vermont , 3 pm: Celebrate Kingfishers with Visiting Author Marina Richie.
Wednesday, October 26, 2022, Bitterbrush Chapter of Great Old Broads for Wilderness, Bend, Oregon–presentation (4 to 5:30 pm at the Environmental Center) –and with Emily Cain, Greater Hells Canyon Council executive director.
Tuesday, October 11, 2022, 6 to 7:30 p.m Mountain Time (5 to 6:30 pm PST) Jackson Hole Bird & Nature Club, Jackson, Wyoming- cosponsored with the Teton County Library. ZOOM LINK
Thursday, October 13, 2022, ReDiscovered Bookshop, Boise, Idaho, reading/presentation in partnership with Golden Eagle Audubon Society. 7 p.m. to be held at the Main Library auditorium.
September 15-18, Montana Book Festival, Missoula. Thursday, September 15th Reading. Sunday, September 18 panel: Where Humans and Wildlife Meet
Tuesday, September 20, Spokane, Washington: Reading/signing at the New Moon Art Gallery, 6 pm wine and appetizers, 7 pm reading. This event is in partnership with the Spokane Audubon Society.
Monday, September 5th (Labor Day), noon to 4 p.m., Oregon Authors Table at the Oregon State Fair in Salem. (See Bill Sullivan’s post here).
Saturday, August 20, Book & Game, Walla Walla signing
Tuesday, July 19, Eastern Oregon University, 3:25 pm to 4:25 pm, La Grande, I will teach the class Storytelling Science.
Thursday, July 21, Paulina Springs Bookstore, Sisters, Oregon, reading and signing, 6:30 pm
Saturday, July 9, Wild Birds Unlimited, book signing, Bend, Oregon, 11 am to 1 pm
Wednesday, July 13, Country Bookshelf, Bozeman (Virtual Event at 6 pm MST/5 pm PST)
Sunday, July 17, Liberty Theater Cafe, La Grande, Oregon Reading from 5:15 pm to 6 pm as part of the Lit Trail: Writing for Animals (and I will be on a panel at 7 pm at Side A Brewing).
Wednesday, June 22, Montana Natural History Center In-Person Book Launch: 7-8 pm, Missoula
Thursday, June 23, Fact & Fiction Bookstore, 7-8 pm, Reading and Signing Book Launch week, Missoula, see on Facebook.
AND MORE NEWS NOT RELATED TO THE BOOK:
“Hidden in the Details” — feature article on the imperiled metalmark butterfly, Fall 2022, A.T. Journeys. See contributor page too.
“Suite of Life” feature article on saving ash trees on the Appalachian Trail published in the Summer 2022 Issue of A.T. Journeys
June 22, 2022, published poem in the Humans of the World Blog
Environmental Advocacy
May 2022: I created these three toolkits for gardeners, hunters and anglers, and birders for National Wildlife Federation–please join in to help pass the Recovering America’s Wildlife Act this Spring!
An Urgent Message for all People Who Love Birds (Blog I wrote for NWF- April 26, 2022)
March 2022 : See my opinion piece on protecting forests.
FROM 2021
I have a reflective piece on the nature of beauty on the trail, that appears in the Summer 2021 issue of A.T. Journeys, “Step Away-Step In: The Nature of Beauty on the Appalachian Trail.”
Millicoma Marsh in Coos Bay now has a lovely self-guided interpretive trail to the last best salt marsh on the bay. Working with Jamie Fereday in Coos Bay, artist Ram Papish, and the Coos tribe (among others), we are pleased to include words for animals and plant life in Hanis and Miluk. Local students added beautiful nature prints to the posts. The Trail is part of a larger educational effort for students and teachers of Coos Bay.
April 2021 Update:
Klamath Bird Observatory featured my Birdwatching Magazine Article on a blog , April 8, 2021
Read my blog for National Wildlife Federation on the wonderful conservationist leader, Mamie Parker.
Kingfisher Journey- Marina Richie 