Nature Writing as a Collective: an Interview with Christopher Supplee
Sixty degree weather and afternoon sun made this past Thursday the perfect setting to talk about nature writing with English graduate student, Christopher Supplee. Chris is part of a nature writing collective based in Greater Philadelphia, the Buried Creek Collective. According to their mission statement, Buried Creek Collective works to educate Greater Philadelphia writers on our changing climate to foster informed storytelling and creative climate resistance. The collective guides members through their curriculum as part of the writing process, which is designed to provide knowledge on local waterways, land use, ecology, and infrastructure. Visits to sites of both environmental crisis and renewal are integrated into the curriculum to help provide an instructional basis for literary representations of the natural world. Not only do collective members visit these local sites, they also meet local sustainability and conservation professionals as part of the research process. The collective's vision of cooperation, adaptation, and a thriving environmental future in the Philadelphia region drives them to continue their mission.
Chris recently attended the first meeting of the year on Sunday, September 20th at The Discovery Center where members introduced themselves to each other. A basic overview of Philadelphia's climate was also on the meeting's agenda. Although this meeting is just the beginning of the program, members are already looking forward to the Daylight After Dark Exhibition. When asked what he is sharing at this event, Chris replied, "my novel, The Sovereign Guise."
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| From @buriedcreek on Instagram |
The Sovereign Guise is part of a larger series in process, Extinction Concords. Chris describes his series as "a political high fantasy about a union of empirical powers, each with a fragment of the sentient earth’s core. When a new power comes to rise in the west, centuries of pacified tension and equanimity are upset by his blasphemous ambition and the consequences reverberate across the waters, bringing cursed immortals with archaic ideals and a band of proxies to a clash as they carry the burdens of their nations whilst fighting for themselves."
Chris says the premise of The Sovereign Guise is "about two missionaries, Mantra and Ballad, sent on behalf of their patron to spread her doctrine and bring about her manifestation. They are not welcomed initially by the presiding monarch of nature and men. After a decade passes, their paths diverge and one man’s uprising threatens the stability among the tribes and the sovereign they submit to. Mantra has lived longer than a man ought to and is intimate with the kind of ruin selfish rebellion brings; with a family of his own now he is caught between protecting them and serving his goddess."
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| From @buriedcreek on Instagram |
Chris shared that all different forms of writing will be presented at the exhibition, including fictional prose, poetry, and screenwriting, along with some multimedia pieces. However, this collective is about more than just individual works and preparing for the exhibition. Chris is equally excited by the collective's engagement in discussing environmental history, policy writing, local watershed knowledge, and understanding the Anthropocene.
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| Taken by Christopher Supplee on a hike, shared in light of our conversation on the Anthropocene and inspirations for his series |
Chris was selected for the Buried Creek Collective program through their application process, which can be found on their website for those interested in learning more: https://buriedcreekcollective.com/
~ by Juliana Catania MA '28