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About:
Middle Creek believes that the disconnect between nature and humanity is a crucial contributor to the discontents and dis-ease we see in the world. Our mission is to connect people to each other and the world they inhabit in a deeper, more meaningful way in order to inspire unity and oneness, to heal humanity, and thus the world, by reigniting the passion between people and nature through the arts. By providing a platform for artists working within this passion, we intend to share the rich complexity and profound depth of life . . . in all its beauty, challenge and potential.
We appreciate any help you may feel called upon to do in spreading the word of this author, book or our press and its mission, and humbly thank you for this cooperation far in advance.
One of our favorite quotes would be from Henry David Thoreau:
" . . . in Wildness is the preservation of the world."
As a small, independent press, we seek to grow a grassroots, or perhaps, mycelial network of artists and readers. We seek to bring the voice of nature to those who love it and those who need it.
David Anthony Martin
CEO / Founding Editor
Middle Creek is dedicated to the illumination of Human Ecology, is open to novels, poetry and stories of many genres and styles and to partnering with folks who spend time in nature, contemplating it, living it and truly, mindfully experiencing it or contemplatively speculating on its future.
We seek to produce and promote works of ecological literature which reveal and illuminate the deep connection we have with nature in our language, our personal mythologies, our private spiritualities, our dreamings, our stories, our communities and our solitudes. We want to read and share your ah-ha moments, the things that hit you like a meditation bell, made you smile, made you cry . . . made you feel. The moments in which you understood, or increased your sense of wonder. We like that you forage mushrooms, dye your own yarn, split your own wood . . . but what does it mean . . . to you . . . to our world?
We are interested in place-based narratives. We love the rural life, the outdoors, the deserts, forests, mountains, prairies and waterways. We love the open seas. We understand small mountain communities, solitary cabin dwellers and the urban dwellers who recognize nature in its many disguises and tuck-away's. We are listening for bird watchers, hikers, rock climbers, adventurers, activists, re-wilders, cooks, those who fisher, hunt, farm, or anyone with a favorite tree or park. Re-wilders and those drawn to contemplative ecology.
To us, the internet is an extension of our evolution, a hyper-contextual aspect of language, and thus, culture. We would agree with Gary Snyder that the purpose of 'the real work' at hand is 'to make the world as real as it is, and to find ourselves as real as we are within it' *
So we love the academic and the technical as much as the organic and self-taught. Give us the Latin, but also give us the colloquial . . . give us the serious, the truly awesome as well as the whimsical. Walt Whitman asked,
"Do I contradict myself?
Very well, then I contradict myself,
I am large, I contain multitudes."
. . . and we understand this. We are wild.
* Tan, J. Q. (2009). Han Shan, Chan Buddhism and Gary Snyder's Ecopoetic Way. Sussex Academic Press, Brighton/Portland.
Find our Editor's Blog on Medium.com at:
https://medium.com/@davidanthonymartin
as well as our new interactive audio podcast on Swell:
https://Swellcast.com/MiddleCreekPod
If you download the free Swell app, you can also respond with audio and interact and start or contribute to a conversation with us and our authors about their work, process, publishing, or anything!