What may have just seemed like a great opportunity at first has truly come full circle for Josh MacIvor-Andersen, MFA, assistant professor of English at Saint Mary-of-the-Woods College (SMWC). MacIvor-Andersen, who first came to teach at SMWC in Fall 2019 has always had a love for nature. Throughout his life as an active tree climber, he found this was a great topic to channel his writing. He never would have thought that his place of work would be surrounded by one of his greatest interests.
“I think it’s ironic that my love for trees and life has brought me to The Woods,” he said.
His first book, On Heights & Hunger, was a memoir about life as a tree climber and had an emphasis on his relationship with his brother. He then served as editor for, Rooted, a collection of works from thirty authors, in 2017. Bill McKibben wrote the introduction and the book explores the human relationship to trees.
After the success of Rooted, he wanted to expand on different stories that writers have about trees. “I have these interests that are converging. Interest with trees and being a writer. Then it occurred to me that every person has a tree story – it became relatable,” he explained.
With the desire to combine his passion for writing and love for trees, he embarked on the concept of sharing others’ passionate chronicles about perennials. “I had continued to brainstorm this idea and once I felt that I had enough information to form a pitch, I explained the idea to my publisher and they were all for it,” he explained.
Currently, MacIvor-Andersen is working towards publishing an anthology of tree stories which is centered around community engagement and storytelling.From established poets and essayists to submissions from aspiring authors, MacIvor-Andersen shared that he hopes the Wabash Valley and Woods community see this project as an opportunity. “We want a variety of voices in this collection. Not only are we looking for established authors, but we are looking for emerging writers who are looking to start their career,” he said.
Although it may appear to be an intimidating process to aspiring writers’, MacIvor-Andersen revealed it takes courage to put yourself out there. “It would be great to have community members submit their work about their relationship with trees. I think what’s great about submission work is that it is a writer’s job to get the words to be powerful but having that power to surrender your work to those who act as gatekeepers…” he said.
“It’s a great way to celebrate our relationship to trees and a chance to bring the history of this institution and present-day conversations to life as a bridge from our deep history to our present day. I’m excited to see how it turns out.”
Josh hopes to have the piece finished and published by Earth Day in April 2023.