Brennan '01 Named Finalist for Orion Book Award
The Oyster War by Summer Brennan '01 was named as a finalist for the Orion Book Award.
The Oyster War: The True Story of a Small Farm, Big Politics, and the Future of Wilderness in America follows the protracted battle between environmentalists, national politicians, scientists, and the Department of the Interior for an estuary that had the power to influence the future of wilderness for decades to come. Fought against a backdrop of fear of government corruption and the looming specter of climate change, the battle struck a national nerve, pitting nature against agriculture and science against politics, as it sought to determine who belonged and who didn’t belong, and what it means to be wild.
The Orion Book Award is given to books that deepen our connection to the natural world, present new ideas about the relationship between people and nature, and achieve excellence in writing.
Earlier this year, Brennan won NYU's Matthew Power Literary Reporting Award. She has written for New York Magazine, Scientific American, Pacific Standard, McSweeneys, The Millions, The Rumpus, and others.