Paper pub. date
May 2019
ISBN 9780870719615 (paperback)
ISBN 9780870719622 (ebook)
6 x 9, 256 pages. 13 B&W line drawings. 8 B&W photos.

Edge of Awe

Experiences of the Malheur-Steens Country

Alan L. Contreras
Foreword by William Kittredge; Illustrations by Ursula K. Le Guin
Summary

This compelling anthology gathers together personal impressions of the Malheur-Steens country of southeastern Oregon, known for its birding opportunities, its natural beauty and remoteness, and, more recently, for the 2016 armed takeover of the Malheur National Wildlife Refuge. Contributors of poetry and narrative nonfiction include biologists, students, tourists, birders, and local residents, thus reflecting the perspectives of both visitors and residents.

Edge of Awe celebrates the immense variety of human experience in the Malheur-Steens region. This high-desert marsh country has long been a place of human habitation, work, and recreation, but this compendium is weighted toward the writing of visitors over the past one hundred years. It encompasses a wide range of experiences, such as fishing the Blitzen River, attending the Steens Running Camp, leading a mule train on Steens mountain, looking for rare migrant birds, boating on the great marshes, and much more.

Anyone who has visited the awe-inspiring Malheur-Steens country or plans to do so, and anyone with an interest in the region, will find inspiration in this literary companion.

CONTRIBUTORS
Chas Biederman
Charles E. Bendire
Greg Bryant
Sean Burns
Alan L. Contreras    
Harry Fuller
Ira N. Gabrielson
Quinton Hallett
Ada Hastings Hedges
David Hedges
Hendrik Herlyn
Meli Hull
William Kittredge    
Ursula K. Le Guin    
Maitreya    
David B. Marshall    
John F. Marshall
Tom McAllister
Thomas C. Meinzen
Peter Pearsall
Dallas Lore Sharp
William Stafford
Noah K. Strycker
Peter Walker
Ellen Waterston
C.E.S. Wood


About the author

ALAN L. CONTRERAS, now retired from a career in higher education, is a writer, editor, and birder. His numerous books include Birds of Oregon: A General Reference and Afield: Forty Years of Birding the American West.


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