Amy Lou Jenkins is a writer, speaker, and educator from Wisconsin. She is held captive by literature of place. Amy Lou Jenkins' first book Every Natural Fact; Five Seasons of Open-Air Parenting will be released by Holy Cow! Press in May of 2010.
What others are saying about Every Natural Fact: “Any reader drawn to the outdoors will cherish EVERY NATURAL FACT and its author's sensual intelligence potted in the fertile soil of a boundless curiosity for the world. Amy Lou Jenkins is the Anna Quindlen of the north woods, the Rachel Carson of the good land of Wisconsin, bequeathing to her son and to all of us an indestructible sense of wonder”. —Bob Shacochis, National Book Award-winning author of Easy in The Islands and The Immaculate Invasion
Braiding together history, memoir, gentle parenting guidance, and superb nature writing, Jenkins' prose illuminates the details of ordinary life."—Susan Cheever Author of American Bloomsbury
"If you combined the lyricism of Annie Dillard, the vision of Aldo Leopold, and the gentle but tough-minded optimism of Frank McCourt, you might come close to Amy Lou Jenkins, a writer who obliterates the distinction between regional writing and actual, honest-to-god writing. I, for one, would follow her anywhere."—Tom Bissell author of The Father of All Things
"What makes this book such a marvel is the way the human and the non-human are kept in perfect balance: the psychological dance of a mother and son, with all its funny, touching, realistic two-steps, intersects with the desire to be opened up to the mystery and rapture of the natural sublime. It is a splendid fusion, as much about parenting and education and generation gaps as it is about patient observation of landscapes in flux. Jenkins' polished literary style makes it, sentence by sentence, a joy to read."— Phillip Lopate, Author of Waterfront
"Amy Lou Jenkins writes with complexity about the dance human beings do with nature, and with one another...She puts together pieces of history, natural history, and parenting to make a touching and memorable whole. The whole thing rings true." —Michael Finley, judge of the Ellis Henderson Outdoor Writing Award.
"Her vivid imagery mixes a naturalist's precision with a spiritual seeker's poetry." –Robert Wake, author and editor of Cambridge Book Review Press and co-judge for the X.J. Kennedy Award for Nonfiction
Amy Lou's essays about walking natural landscapes with her son have placed in several national writing contests and are published in The Flint Hills Review, Literal Latte, The Florida Review, and Rosebud. Amy also writes a quarterly review of books and film for the Wisconsin and other Midwest Sierra Club publications and writes a column as the Green Living Examiner.
Amy Lou has taught writing at Carroll Universtiy and at writing seminars and workshops. She's an active freelance writer specializing in stories related to the environment, parenting, and health. She holds a BSN from Alverno College and an MFA from Bennington College. See more about awards and honors.
Articles/essays published in The Florida Review, Rosebud, Earth Island Journal, Sport Literate, The Flint Hills Review, Grit, Inkpot, Home Cooking, Cappers, Big Apple Parent, Wisconsin Academy Review, Western New York Family, The Christian Reader, Home Cooking, Generations, MetroParent, Milwaukee Journal Sentinel, Shepherds Express Metro, Washington Families, Inscriptions, Blue Moon, The New Colonialist, and many more.
Amy Lou Jenkins is a writer, speaker, and educator from Wisconsin. She is held captive by literature of place. Amy Lou Jenkins' first book
Amy Lou's essays about walking natural landscapes with her son have placed in several national writing contests and are published in The Flint Hills Review, Literal Latte, The Florida Review, and Rosebud. Amy also writes a quarterly review of books and film for the Wisconsin and other Midwest Sierra Club publications and writes a column as the