In Mossback: Ecology, Emancipation, and Foraging for Hope in Painful Places, David Pritchett traverses geography, history, and genealogy to explore landscapes and mythologies at the intersection of environmental, indigenous, and social justice. This collection of a dozen essays searches terrain—from the heart of a swamp to the modern grid lines remaking our watersheds, to the tracks of the animals who share this earth, to the inner landscapes of the soul—to find glimpses of light in dark places and hope in painful legacies.

The word “mossback” has been used to describe rural southerners who lived in swampy areas during colonial times and moved so slowly that moss grew on their clothing. It is also used to describe fish and turtles who show similar growth on their shells, Confederate deserters who refused to fight and, after the war, southerners who fought against the Ku Klux Klan. Pritchett reclaims the word to celebrate those who move deliberately through the natural world, protecting the land and the relations they depend on.

“Mossback is a beautiful meander through place and time, and an interweaving of authentic personal stories with the stories of others, including Welsh bardic poets, contemporary and ancient theologians, mystics, biologists, Greek philosophers, and indigenous elders. Pritchett takes readers from the swamplands of Virginia to the mountains of Africa and back, returning again and again to the most important question of our time—how will we change the way we live on and with the earth and with each other?” — Gretchen Legler, author of Woodsqueer: Crafting a Sustainable Rural Life