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An Anthology of the Anthropocene

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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 live music, somatic exercises, 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.


 
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Registration includes…

Live Salon

—A series of 6 live Earthly Reads online gatherings featuring an intimate discussion between the Authors and Ayana Young.

  • Our featured guests include:

    • Tricia Hersey - Wednesday, February 26 @8p EST

    • Marcia Bjornerud - Wednesday, March 5 @8p EST

    • Alexis Pauline Gumbs - Wednesday, March 12 @8p EST

    • adrienne maree brown - Friday, March 14 @2p EST

    • Prentis Hemphill - Wednesday, March 19 @8p EST

    • Céline Semaan - Wednesday, March 26 @8p EST

  • Gatherings include:

    • A guided somatic practice and live music from our friends, Living Earth

    • Access to recorded live gatherings available for on-demand play

    • Transcriptions of the live gatherings provided within a week

Musical Artists


Curriculum

—Earthly Reads Study Notes

  • For The Wild Study Notes created specifically for each book (PDF)

—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 dozens of pages including episode excerpts, prayer, community artwork, poetry, ritual, journaling prompts and more (PDF)

—Music Playlists

  • Curated playlists for stillness and movement (Listen on Spotify)

—Community Discussion Group

  • Option to join our lightly-moderated, private Earthly Reads Book Study group where you can discuss the books with fellow students (Join on Discord)

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 own computer.


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

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Sliding scale registration

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:

 
Tier 1: Earthly Reads Book Study
$270.00
One time
$125.00
For 2 months

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.

Tier II: Earthly Reads Book Study
$370.00
One time
$185.00
For 2 months

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.

 
Tier III: Earthly Reads Book Study
$470.00
One time
$235.00
For 2 months

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.

Frequently Asked Questions

  • 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.

  • 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 live 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.

  • 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!

  • A series of 6 live, online gatherings that include live music and embodiment practices 

    • The opportunity to engage directly with authors through our Q&A submissions 

    • Recorded sessions for on-demand play; Transcriptions will be available within a week after each gathering.


    Earthly Reads Study Notes

    • For The Wild’stwist 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

  • 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.

  • You will have access to a Zoom meeting link where you can join the live discussion groups. Each meeting will be recorded and you can also access the recordings after they are posted within the membership site.

    Live gatherings will typically take place weekday evenings (Alaska- Eastern time zones). If this timing does not work for you, recordings of the conversation will be available.

  • How you choose to engage with your membership registration is up to you. Pick and choose attendance to live gatherings according to your interest and schedule availability. All l live gatherings will be recorded and made available for on-demand play.

  • 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.

  • 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.

  • 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. Live 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.

  • Due to the digital nature of the products sold, all purchases are final.

  • 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.

 

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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.