by Ross Gay
First published 2024
Katie Holten develops a visual alphabet where each letter becomes a tree, root, or leaf. She uses this botanical code to translate works by over fifty writers including Ursula K. Le Guin, Robert Macfarlane, Zadie Smith, and Plato. Her tree symbols transform familiar texts into something readers must decode anew. Holten guides readers from ancient cave paintings to a 3,500 year-old cypress tree's death. She explores Tree Clocks in Mongolia and Amazon forest fragments. The collection moves through primeval atoms and fossil poetry. Each translated piece appears alongside Holten's original illustrations. The book traces how humans have written about trees across centuries. Writers like Aimee Nezhukumatathil, James Gleick, and Elizabeth Kolbert contribute to this fusion of literature and visual art. Holten shows readers how to see natural beauty through her invented script while warning what might vanish if forests disappear.
Genres: nature, art, literary-fiction, environment, non-fiction, biography-memoir
Vibes: emotional, intimate, lyrical, thought-provoking
Tropes: found-family, intimate
Setting: Amazon, Mongolia
Period: 3,500 Years Ago, Ancient, Primeval
320 pages · Paperback · Tin House