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In the summer of 2019, Mary Annaïse Heglar, one of my favorite climate writers, published an essay on Medium that caught me off guard. Titled, “But the Greatest of These is Love,” a reference to a quote from Jesus, the essay argues that love is one of the most powerful feelings we have to maintain the fight for climate action. I confess—at first I was skeptical. But then Mary floored me with this quote:
“This love is not a noun, she is an action verb. She can shoot stars into the sky. She can spark a movement. She can sustain a revolution.”
I’ve thought about this essay a lot since it was published over two years ago, and I think Mary is right: love is the solution to the climate crisis. It’s the only force powerful enough to sustain the kind of revolution we need to build a sustainable, equitable, and just world. So I don’t think it’s a coincidence that my recent conversation with Cheryl Grey Bostrom saw us talking about the importance of love in this context.
Cheryl is an author and photographer from Washington State who recently published her debut novel, Sugar Birds. Set in the Pacific Northwest, Sugar Birds tells the story of young Aggie, a girl on the run from her troubles after starting a devastating fire at her family home. I had the pleasure of talking with Cheryl about her first novel, and now I’m happy to share our conversation here. I hope you enjoy.
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“Sugar Birds” by Cheryl Grey Bostrom
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About the creator
Cheryl Grey Bostrom is a naturalist, photographer, poet, and author from rural Washington State. The author of two works of nonfiction, Cheryl made her fiction debut with the publication of Sugar Birds in August 2021. Since its publication, Sugar Birds has won at least three awards, including the 2021 American Fiction Awards in Literary Fiction, General Fiction, and Cross-Genre Fiction. You can learn more about Cheryl and her writing at her official website: cherylbostrom.com.
Transcript
*Coming soon*
Recommended reading
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- Joy Harjo: “Crazy Brave,” “An American Sunrise,” And The Land
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