Terry Tempest Williams
Encyclopedia
Terry Tempest Williams (born September 8, 1955), is an American
author
, conservationist and activist.
Williams’ writing is rooted in the American West and has been significantly influenced by the arid landscape of her native Utah in which she was raised. Her work ranges from issues of ecology and wilderness preservation, to women's health, to exploring our relationship to culture and nature.
She has testified before Congress on women’s health, committed acts of civil disobedience in the years 1987 - 1992 in protest against nuclear testing in the Nevada Desert, and again, in March, 2003 in Washington, D.C., with Code Pink, against the Iraq War. She been a guest at the White House, has camped in the remote regions of Utah and Alaska wildernesses and worked as "a barefoot artist" in Rwanda.
Williams is the author of Refuge: An Unnatural History of Family and Place; An Unspoken Hunger: Stories from the Field; Desert Quartet; Leap; Red: Patience and Passion in the Desert; and The Open Space of Democracy. Her book Finding Beauty in a Broken World, was published in 2008 by Pantheon Books.
In 2006, Williams received the Robert Marshall Award from The Wilderness Society, their highest honor given to an American citizen. She also received the Distinguished Achievement Award from the Western American Literature Association and the Wallace Stegner Award given by The Center for the American West. She is the recipient of a Lannan Literary Fellowship and a John Simon Guggenheim Fellowship in creative nonfiction. In 2009, Williams was featured in Ken Burns' PBS series on the national parks. In 2011, she received the 18th International Peace Award given by the Community of Christ Church.http://www.cofchrist.org/peacecolloquy/
Williams is currently the Annie Clark Tanner Scholar in Environmental Humanities at the University of Utah and a columnist for the magazine The Progressive. She has been a Montgomery Fellow at Dartmouth College where she continues to teach. She divides her time between Wilson, Wyoming and Castle Valley, Utah, where her husband Brooke is field coordinator for the Southern Utah Wilderness Alliance.
Atomic testing at the Nevada Test Site (outside Las Vegas) between 1951 and 1962 exposed Williams’ family to radiation like many Utahns, which Williams believes is the reason so many members of her family have been affected by cancer. By 1994, nine members of the Tempest family had had mastectomies, and seven had died of cancer. Some of the family members affected by cancer included Williams’ own mother and grandmother and brother.
In 1978, Williams graduated from the University of Utah
with a degree in English and a minor in biology, followed by a Master of Science degree in environmental education in 1984. Williams met her husband Brooke Williams in 1974 while working part-time at Zion's Bookstore, a Salt Lake City bookstore, where he was a customer. The two married six months after their first meeting and began their life together working at the Teton Science School in Grand Teton National Park. After graduating from college, Williams worked as a teacher in Montezuma Creek, Utah, on the Navajo Reservation. She worked at the Utah Museum of Natural History
from 1986-96, first as curator of education and later as naturalist-in-residence.
In 1991, Williams' memoir, Refuge: An Unnatural History of Family and Place
was published by Pantheon Books. The book interweaves memoir and natural history
, recounting her mother's diagnosis with ovarian cancer
along with the concurrent flooding of the Bear River Migratory Bird Refuge
, a place special to Williams since childhood. The book's widely anthologized epilogue
, The Clan of One-Breasted Women, explores whether the high incidence of cancer in her family might be due to their status as downwinders
during the U.S. Atomic Energy Commission
's above-ground nuclear testing
in the 1950s and 60s. Refuge received the 1991 Evans Biography Award from the Mountain West Center for Regional Studies at Utah State University
. and the Mountain-Plains Booksellers Creative Nonfiction Book Award in 1992.
In 1995, when the United States Congress was debating issues related to the Utah wilderness, Williams and writer Stephen Trimble edited the collection, Testimony: Writers Speak On Behalf of Utah Wilderness, an effort by twenty American writers to sway public policy. A copy of the book was given to every member of Congress. On September 18, 1996, President Bill Clinton at the dedication of the new Grand Staircase-Escalante National Monument
, held up this book and said, "This made a difference."
Williams’ writing on ecological and social issues has appeared in The New Yorker, The New York Times, and Orion magazine, among others. She has been published in numerous environmental, feminist, political, and literary anthologies. She has also collaborated in the creation of fine art books with photographers Emmet Gowin, Richard Misrach, Debra Bloomfield
, Meridel Rubenstein, Rosalie Winard, and Edward Riddell.
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
author
Author
An author is broadly defined as "the person who originates or gives existence to anything" and that authorship determines responsibility for what is created. Narrowly defined, an author is the originator of any written work.-Legal significance:...
, conservationist and activist.
Williams’ writing is rooted in the American West and has been significantly influenced by the arid landscape of her native Utah in which she was raised. Her work ranges from issues of ecology and wilderness preservation, to women's health, to exploring our relationship to culture and nature.
She has testified before Congress on women’s health, committed acts of civil disobedience in the years 1987 - 1992 in protest against nuclear testing in the Nevada Desert, and again, in March, 2003 in Washington, D.C., with Code Pink, against the Iraq War. She been a guest at the White House, has camped in the remote regions of Utah and Alaska wildernesses and worked as "a barefoot artist" in Rwanda.
Williams is the author of Refuge: An Unnatural History of Family and Place; An Unspoken Hunger: Stories from the Field; Desert Quartet; Leap; Red: Patience and Passion in the Desert; and The Open Space of Democracy. Her book Finding Beauty in a Broken World, was published in 2008 by Pantheon Books.
In 2006, Williams received the Robert Marshall Award from The Wilderness Society, their highest honor given to an American citizen. She also received the Distinguished Achievement Award from the Western American Literature Association and the Wallace Stegner Award given by The Center for the American West. She is the recipient of a Lannan Literary Fellowship and a John Simon Guggenheim Fellowship in creative nonfiction. In 2009, Williams was featured in Ken Burns' PBS series on the national parks. In 2011, she received the 18th International Peace Award given by the Community of Christ Church.http://www.cofchrist.org/peacecolloquy/
Williams is currently the Annie Clark Tanner Scholar in Environmental Humanities at the University of Utah and a columnist for the magazine The Progressive. She has been a Montgomery Fellow at Dartmouth College where she continues to teach. She divides her time between Wilson, Wyoming and Castle Valley, Utah, where her husband Brooke is field coordinator for the Southern Utah Wilderness Alliance.
Early life, education, and work
Terry Tempest Williams was born in Corona, California, to Diane Dixon Tempest and John Henry Tempest, III. Her father was serving in the United States Air Force in Riverside, California, for two years. She grew up in Salt Lake City, Utah, within sight of Great Salt Lake.Atomic testing at the Nevada Test Site (outside Las Vegas) between 1951 and 1962 exposed Williams’ family to radiation like many Utahns, which Williams believes is the reason so many members of her family have been affected by cancer. By 1994, nine members of the Tempest family had had mastectomies, and seven had died of cancer. Some of the family members affected by cancer included Williams’ own mother and grandmother and brother.
In 1978, Williams graduated from the University of Utah
University of Utah
The University of Utah, also known as the U or the U of U, is a public, coeducational research university in Salt Lake City, Utah, United States. The university was established in 1850 as the University of Deseret by the General Assembly of the provisional State of Deseret, making it Utah's oldest...
with a degree in English and a minor in biology, followed by a Master of Science degree in environmental education in 1984. Williams met her husband Brooke Williams in 1974 while working part-time at Zion's Bookstore, a Salt Lake City bookstore, where he was a customer. The two married six months after their first meeting and began their life together working at the Teton Science School in Grand Teton National Park. After graduating from college, Williams worked as a teacher in Montezuma Creek, Utah, on the Navajo Reservation. She worked at the Utah Museum of Natural History
Utah Museum of Natural History
The Natural History Museum of Utah is a museum located at the Rio Tinto Center on the campus of the University of Utah in Salt Lake City, Utah, United States. The museum shows exhibits of natural history subjects, specifically about Utah's natural history...
from 1986-96, first as curator of education and later as naturalist-in-residence.
Writing career
Williams published her first book, The Secret Language of Snow in 1984. A children’s book written with Ted Major, her mentor at the Teton Science School, it received a National Science Foundation Book Award. Over the next few years, she published three other books: Pieces of White Shell: A Journey to Navajo Land (1984, illustrated by Clifford Brycelea, a Navajo artist), Between Cattails (1985, illustrated by Peter Parnall), and Coyote’s Canyon, (1989, with photographs by John Telford).In 1991, Williams' memoir, Refuge: An Unnatural History of Family and Place
Refuge: An Unnatural History of Family and Place
Refuge: An Unnatural History of Family and Place is a non-fiction book by American writer and naturalist Terry Tempest Williams. This book aims to distinguish between the natural and unnatural along with an ultimate evaluation of the harmful effects that the American government has brought upon the...
was published by Pantheon Books. The book interweaves memoir and natural history
Natural history
Natural history is the scientific research of plants or animals, leaning more towards observational rather than experimental methods of study, and encompasses more research published in magazines than in academic journals. Grouped among the natural sciences, natural history is the systematic study...
, recounting her mother's diagnosis with ovarian cancer
Ovarian cancer
Ovarian cancer is a cancerous growth arising from the ovary. Symptoms are frequently very subtle early on and may include: bloating, pelvic pain, difficulty eating and frequent urination, and are easily confused with other illnesses....
along with the concurrent flooding of the Bear River Migratory Bird Refuge
Bear River Migratory Bird Refuge
Bear River Migratory Bird Refuge is a National Wildlife Refuge in Utah, established in 1927. Leased by the government from private property owners....
, a place special to Williams since childhood. The book's widely anthologized epilogue
Epilogue
An epilogue, epilog or afterword is a piece of writing at the end of a work of literature or drama, usually used to bring closure to the work...
, The Clan of One-Breasted Women, explores whether the high incidence of cancer in her family might be due to their status as downwinders
Downwinders
Downwinders refers to individuals and communities who are exposed to radioactive contamination or nuclear fallout from atmospheric or underground nuclear weapons testing, and nuclear accidents...
during the U.S. Atomic Energy Commission
United States Atomic Energy Commission
The United States Atomic Energy Commission was an agency of the United States government established after World War II by Congress to foster and control the peace time development of atomic science and technology. President Harry S...
's above-ground nuclear testing
Nuclear testing
Nuclear weapons tests are experiments carried out to determine the effectiveness, yield and explosive capability of nuclear weapons. Throughout the twentieth century, most nations that have developed nuclear weapons have tested them...
in the 1950s and 60s. Refuge received the 1991 Evans Biography Award from the Mountain West Center for Regional Studies at Utah State University
Utah State University
Utah State University is a public university located in Logan, Utah. It is a land-grant and space-grant institution and is accredited by the Northwest Commission on Colleges and Universities....
. and the Mountain-Plains Booksellers Creative Nonfiction Book Award in 1992.
In 1995, when the United States Congress was debating issues related to the Utah wilderness, Williams and writer Stephen Trimble edited the collection, Testimony: Writers Speak On Behalf of Utah Wilderness, an effort by twenty American writers to sway public policy. A copy of the book was given to every member of Congress. On September 18, 1996, President Bill Clinton at the dedication of the new Grand Staircase-Escalante National Monument
Grand Staircase-Escalante National Monument
The Grand Staircase-Escalante National Monument contains 1.9 million acres of land in southern Utah, the United States. There are three main regions: the Grand Staircase, the Kaiparowits Plateau, and the Canyons of the Escalante. President Bill Clinton designated the area as a U.S. National...
, held up this book and said, "This made a difference."
Williams’ writing on ecological and social issues has appeared in The New Yorker, The New York Times, and Orion magazine, among others. She has been published in numerous environmental, feminist, political, and literary anthologies. She has also collaborated in the creation of fine art books with photographers Emmet Gowin, Richard Misrach, Debra Bloomfield
Debra Bloomfield
Debra Bloomfield is an American photographer.Bloomfield's work is included in the collections of the San Francisco Museum of Modern Art, the Berkeley Art Museum and Pacific Film Archive, and The Victoria and Albert Museum in London, England, among others. She has received the 1991/92 San Francisco...
, Meridel Rubenstein, Rosalie Winard, and Edward Riddell.
Books
- The Secret Language of Snow (for children; co-authored with Ted Major, illustrations by Jennifer Dewey), Sierra Club/Pantheon, 1984.
- Pieces of White Shell: A Journey to Navajoland (illustrations by Clifford Brycelea), Charles Scribner's Sons, New York, 1984.
- Coyote's Canyon (photographs by John Telford), Peregrine Smith, Layton, Utah, 1989.
- Refuge: An Unnatural History of Family and Place, Pantheon Books, New York, 1991, ISBN 0-679-74024-4.
- Leap, Pantheon Books, New York, 2000.
- Finding Beauty In A Broken World, Pantheon Books, New York, 2008.
Poetry Collections
- Between Cattails (for children), Little, Brown, Boston, 1985.
- Earthly Messengers, Western Slope Press, Provo, Utah, 1989.
- The Illuminated Desert (for children; with art by Chloe Hedden, calligraphy by Chris Montague), Canyonlands Natural History Association, 2008.
Essay Collections
- An Unspoken Hunger: Stories from the Field, Pantheon Books, New York, 1994.
- Desert Quartet: An Erotic Landscape, (with art by Mary Frank), Pantheon Books, New York, 1995.
- Red: Passion and Patience in the Desert, Pantheon Books, New York, 2001.
- The Open Space of Democracy, Orion Society Books, Great Barrington, Mass, 2004. Reissued by Wipf & Stock Publishers, 2010.
Works Edited by Williams
- Great and Peculiar Beauty: A Utah Centennial Reader(edited with Thomas J. Lyon), Peregrine Smith, Layton, Utah 1995.
- Testimony: Writers in Defense of the Wilderness(compiled with Stephen Trimble), Milkweed Press, Minneapolis, 1996.
- New Genesis: A Mormon Reader on Land and Community(edited with William B. Smart, and Gibbs M. Smith), Peregrine Smith, Layton, Utah 1998
Affiliations, Honors, and Awards
- Governing Council of The Wilderness SocietyThe Wilderness Society (United States)The Wilderness Society is an American organization that is dedicated to protecting America's wilderness. It was formed in 1935 and currently has over 300,000 members and supporters.-Founding:The society was incorporated on January 21, 1935...
1989 - 1993 - President's Council for Sustainable Development, western team member 1994 - 1995
- National Parks and Conservation Association, advisory board member
- Round River Conservation StudiesRound River Conservation StudiesRound River Conservation Studies is a non-profit organization focused on international conservation research and education. Round River's student programs are designed to involve small groups of students with inspiring people and actual research projects that are finding and implementing solutions...
, board member - The Nature Conservancy - Utah Chapter
- Southern Utah Wilderness AllianceSouthern Utah Wilderness AllianceThe Southern Utah Wilderness Alliance is a wilderness preservation organization in the United States based in Salt Lake City, Utah, with field offices in Washington, D.C. and Moab, Utah...
1985–present - Annie Clark Tanner Scholar in Environmental Humanities Program at the University of UtahUniversity of UtahThe University of Utah, also known as the U or the U of U, is a public, coeducational research university in Salt Lake City, Utah, United States. The university was established in 1850 as the University of Deseret by the General Assembly of the provisional State of Deseret, making it Utah's oldest...
, 2004 to present
- Honorary Degree, College of the Atlantic, Bar Harbor, Maine, 1999
- Honorary Degree, Chatham College, Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, 2000
- Honorary Doctor of Humanities, Utah State University, Logan, Utah, 2002
- Honorary Doctor of Humanities, University of Utah, Salt Lake City, Utah, 2003
- Honorary Doctor of Humane Letters, Saint Mary-of-the-Woods CollegeSaint Mary-of-the-Woods CollegeSaint Mary-of-the-Woods College is a Roman Catholic, four-year liberal arts women's college located northwest of Terre Haute, Indiana, between the Wabash River and the Illinois state line. There is also a small village of the same name located nearby...
, 2004 - Honorary Doctor of Humane Letters, Lesley University, Cambridge, Mass, 2008
- Honorary Doctor of Humanities, Wooster College, Wooster, Ohio, 2010
- National Wildlife FederationNational Wildlife FederationThe National Wildlife Federation is the United States' largest private, nonprofit conservation education and advocacy organization, with over four million members and supporters, and 48 state and territorial affiliated organizations...
's Conservation Award for Special Achievement, 1993 - Inducted into the Rachel CarsonRachel CarsonRachel Louise Carson was an American marine biologist and conservationist whose writings are credited with advancing the global environmental movement....
Honor Roll, 1996 - One of the "Utne ReaderUtne ReaderUtne Reader is an American bimonthly magazine. The magazine collects and reprints articles on politics, culture, and the environment from generally alternative media sources, including journals, newsletters, weeklies, zines, music and DVDs...
's" "Utne 100 Visionaries" - The Mormon Arts & Letters Association Lifetime Achievement Award, 1997
- Utah Governor's Award in the Humanities, 1995
- Wallace StegnerWallace StegnerWallace Earle Stegner was an American historian, novelist, short story writer, and environmentalist, often called "The Dean of Western Writers"...
Award for the Center for the American West, 2005 - Distinguished Achievement Award from the Western American Literature Association, 2006
- Robert Marshall Award from The Wilderness Society, 2006
- John Wesley Powell Award, The Grand Canyon Trust, 2008
- Spirit of the Arctic Award, Alaska Wilderness League, 2008
- International Peace Award, Community of Christ Church, 2011
- John Simon Guggenheim Memorial Foundation Fellow
- Lannan Literary Fellowship in Creative Nonfiction
- Lila Wallace-Reader's Digest Community Literary Grant
- Hemingway Foundation Literary Grant
Book Awards
- New York Academy of Sciences, Children's Science Book Award, 1984, The Secret Language of Snow
- Southwest Book Award, 1985, Pieces of White Shell
- Mormon Arts & Letters Association, Personal Essay Award, 1991, Refuge: An Unnatural History of Family and Place
- Evans Biography Award, Mountain West Center for Regional Studies, Utah State University, 1991, Refuge
- Mountain-Plains Booksellers, Creative Nonfiction Award, 1992, Refuge
- Mormon Arts & Letters Association, Personal Essay Award, 1995 Desert Quartet
- Utah Book Award, Nonfiction, 2000, Leap
- Mountain-Plains Booksellers, Children’s Picture Book Award, 2009, The Illuminated Desert
External links
- Coyote Clan - Terry Tempest Williams' Home Page
- Whole Terrain link to Williams' articles published in Whole TerrainWhole TerrainWhole Terrain: Journal of Reflective Environmental Practice is an environmentally-themed literary journal that's published approximately once a year by Antioch University New England . Each volume explores emerging ecological and social issues from the perspectives of practitioners working in the...
- Tempest: "6 Months Since BP Oil Spill, Where Is Our Outrage?" - video interview by Democracy Now!Democracy Now!Democracy Now! and its staff have received several journalism awards, including the Gracie Award from American Women in Radio & Television; the George Polk Award for its 1998 radio documentary Drilling and Killing: Chevron and Nigeria's Oil Dictatorship, on the Chevron Corporation and the deaths of...