Join Us
Get grounded with our most beloved authors
Join For The Wild as we explore our love of literature with some of our most beloved authors through this interactive Book Study! Earthly Reads weaves together intimate online gatherings with music, study notes, practice guides, and an online community in which to dive deep with. Earthly Reads is more than just an online bookclub. It’s a comprehensive multimodal offering, a salon of sorts, designed to help you slow down so that you may invoke the deeper wisdom within the pages.
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The Authors
Through a lens of “loving correction” rather than mere critique, author adrienne maree brown helps us reimagine how to hold ourselves, our loved ones, and our communities accountable by setting clear boundaries, engaging in reflection, and nurturing honest relationships.
In Survival Is a Promise, Alexis Pauline Gumbs, the first researcher to explore the full depths of Lorde’s manuscript archives, illuminates the eternal life of Lorde. Her life and work become more than a sound bite; they become a cosmic force, teaching us the grand contingency of life together on earth.
In Turning to Stone, Geosciences professor Marcia Bjornerud, one of Lawrence University’s most prolific authors and scholars, weaves her personal footprint into the exploration of Earth’s geologic history, channeling a desire for her fellow earthlings to join her in better understanding where we’ve been and where we’re going.
Escape from grind culture and dehumanizing systems with the visionary guide, WE WILL REST! The Art of Escape. Just as the North Star guided the enslaved on their journeys to freedom, visionary artist and founder of The Nap Ministry, Tricia Hersey, leads us to subvert the narrative of productivity at all costs and embrace rest as a healing spiritual practice.
What It Takes to Heal asserts that the principles of embodiment—the recognition of our body’s sensations and habits, and the beliefs that inform them—are critical to lasting healing and change. Hemphill demonstrates a future in which healing is done in community.
A Woman is a School is the first memoir and cultural anthropological book by Slow Factory founder, Céline Semaan. As a war-survivor and child refugee sharing endangered and discredited ancestral knowledge, Semaan documents what she has witnessed throughout her life and the lives of her family members, sharing her upbringing and cultures of resistance.
Your Host
AYANA YOUNG
Ayana Young & her daughter spend most days strategizing how to stop large-scale industrial projects in wild salmon habitat; and exploring the wilderness of Coastal Alaska. Ayana is the Co-Founder and Host of For The Wild.
Registration includes…
Author Salons
—Over six hours of play on-demand recordings featuring intimate discussion between the authors and Ayana Young
Our featured guests include:
Tricia Hersey with music by Nailah Hunter
Marcia Bjornerud with music by Noah Klein
Alexis Pauline Gumbs
adrienne maree brown with music by Salenta + Topu
Prentis Hemphill
Céline Semaan with music by Paige Emery
Media includes:
Downloadable audio-only file
Abridged transcripts for easy reading and notetaking
Curriculum
—Earthly Reads Study Notes
For The Wild Study Notes created specifically for each book (PDF). Available in digital format or print and bind your own copy using the provided bookbinding tutorial.
—Extended Podcast Episodes
Access to the six new 2025 extended-length podcast episodes featuring each Author (MP3 audio); includes transcripts (PDF)
—Practice Guide
Access to the digital Earthly Reads Practice Guide filled with quotes, practices, journaling prompts and more (PDF)
—Music Playlists
Curated playlists for stillness and movement (Listen on Spotify)
Content Access: The online course portal will be available through the end of 2025. For lifetime access, the Study Notes, Practice Guide, Extended Podcast Episodes and Transcripts are available to download to your personal device.
Themes we explore
This collection of authors and books is meant to encourage conversation that can reignite imagination and transformation within our own bodies and lives. We will be focusing on themes of resistance, embodiment, and connection as an antidote to this era of division and isolation.
Specific themes include:
An attunement to the subtle wisdom of the Earth — What does it mean to be of and for the Earth?
Practical insight for community building
Embracing intergenerational knowledge and kinship
Homage to the landscapes that shape us
Moving beyond judgement towards accountability
Get the books
We recommend borrowing from your public library or friends, purchasing from your favorite local bookstore, or ordering a hardcopy from our bookshop.org lists below. A small portion of each sale helps fund For The Wild slow media projects.
Frequently Asked Questions
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Many of our For The Wild conversations over the past decade have featured writers and authors. In this time of quickening media cycles, sound bites and hot takes, we are continuing to reorient to the tenets of slow media. Our approach is grounded in our continued dedication to carving out psychic space for our listeners to read, learn, and grow in knowledge together. This integrative and multi-modal study is one way to do this.
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This is for the curious, the open, the trusting, and the compassionate. Whether you are an avid reader or are returning to the pages, we welcome you. We have designed this course to prioritize community togetherness with the author conversations, while also ensuring that participants will be able to take the study at their own pace. Recordings and supplementary material will be made available throughout the series and beyond the live conversation dates. You can go slowly.
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Which tier you pay is up to you! We encourage you to choose an amount that matches your personal means to pay. By paying at a higher rate, you help us keep our content accessible to as many people as possible, and we are grateful for support at any tier level!
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A series of 6 play on-demand online gatherings
The opportunity to engage directly with authors through our Q&A submissions
Recorded sessions for on-demand play; Transcriptions and audio-only formats will be available after each gathering.
Earthly Reads Study NotesFor The Wild’s twist on the well-known Cliffs Notes. Notes and inquiry are created specifically for each book to support deepening the reading and experience of the live gatherings.
Extended Podcast Episodes
Access to the new 2025 extended-length podcast episodes featuring each Author (MP3 audio); includes transcripts (PDF)
Practice Guide
Access to our digital Earthly Reads Practice Guide filled with dozens of pages including episode excerpts, prayer, community artwork, poetry, ritual, journaling prompts and more delivered after the final gathering
Community Discussion Group
Option to join our lightly-moderated, private Earthly Reads group hosted on Discord where you can discuss your studies with fellow students
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Once you register and log-in to your account at forthewild.world, you will gain membership access to all available Earthly Reads content.
Access time: Download the Study Notes, Practice Guide, Extended Podcast Episodes and Transcripts to your own computer for lifetime access. The online course portal will be available through the end of 2025.Course does not include download options for the recordings of the live gatherings.
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All online gatherings have occurred and are now available for free play on-demand viewing.
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How you choose to engage with your membership registration is up to you. Pick and choose attendance to gatherings according to your interest and schedule availability. All l live gatherings will be recorded and made available for on-demand play.
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Yes! Registration is rolling and recordings of the live conversations will be available after they take place, and the study is meant to be self-paced, so feel free to join in as it suits you. Please note that we cannot offer a discounted price for those who will miss or have missed live gatherings.
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We recommend borrowing titles from your public library and friends or purchasing from your favorite local bookstore. For online ordering, we welcome purchases through our bookshop.org list where a small portion of each sale helps fund For The Wild slow media projects.
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We all read at our own pace. Feel free to join us whether you’ve just picked up the books for the first time or if you’ve read them thoroughly. The author gatherings will cover themes that are presented within the books, but do not require you to have read them in order to enjoy the event.
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Due to the digital nature of the products sold, all purchases are final.
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Thanks for joining us! Check your inbox for your welcome email. It will include instructions on how to access your content and log-in.
To access your content, go to forthewild.world home page and click on the Earthly Reads log-in button in the top navigation bar at forthewild.world. Enter your username and password to access the Book Study navigation bar. Click on the Earthly Reads member home page to access the content buttons and links.
Content will be uploaded in stages over the first couple of months. Be sure to watch for email updates as well! -
Reach out to For The Wild team at connect@forthewild.world or submit a query here.
Sliding scale registration
Important******The membership portal will close on Dec 31. Be sure to download your material before then for lifetime access.
Your participation makes For The Wild programming possible.
We are currently 100% listener supported with majority of our listening content available to the public for free. We invite you to offer what you can. The more that you can give, the more we can create. Every dollar helps us continue forward.
Choose from the sliding scale tiers below:
I am currently enrolled as a student and can afford to pay $20 per Live Gathering and for the accompanying materials which includes a collection of carefully and lovingly curated evergreen content that I can download to my desktop for lifetime learning access
I can help make this study possible and afford to pay $45 per Live Gathering and for the accompanying materials which includes a collection of carefully and lovingly curated evergreen content that I can download to my desktop for lifetime learning access.
I can give a little extra to uplift For The Wild's future slow studies and pay $62 per Live Gathering and for the accompanying materials which includes a collection of carefully and lovingly curated evergreen content that I can download to my desktop for lifetime learning access.
I can amplify For The Wild slow media projects and offer $78 per Live Gathering and for the accompanying materials which includes a collection of carefully and lovingly curated evergreen content that I can download to my desktop for lifetime learning access.