PRESENTING THE 2022 SONWA WINNERS!

COMING SOON A Print Version of From the Archives

As part of its 50th anniversary celebration, the Institute released twenty-six historically focused emails inspired by items in the Institute’s archives. These emails are being collected into a commemorative booklet that will be available early this summer. If you’re interested in receiving a copy for your personal collection, please email soei@northland.edu and include your postal address.

Since 1991, the Sigurd Olson Nature Writing Award (SONWA) has honored the literary legacy of Sigurd Olson by recognizing and encouraging contemporary writers who seek to carry on his tradition of nature writing.

This year’s top winners resonate with Sigurd Olson’s idea of a listening point; each one expands our understanding of interspecies communication, reminding us that when we open our ears, a world of wonders awaits!

Adult Nonfiction

The top prize was awarded to a trio of books this year! An Immense World: How Animal Senses Reveal the Hidden Realms Around Us by Ed Yong (Random House); How to Speak Whale: A Voyage into the Future of Animal Communication by Tom Mustill (Grand Central Publishing); and The Sounds of Life: How Digital Technology Is Bringing Us Closer to the Worlds of Animals and Plants by Karen Bakker (Princeton University Press).

Young Adult

Written by Robin Wall Kimmerer, illustrated by Nicole Neidhardt, and adapted for young adults by Monique Gray Smith, Braiding Sweetgrass for Young Adults (Lerner Publishing Group) weaves together Indigenous wisdom and scientific knowledge.

Honorable Mention

Children’s

Count on Us! Climate Activists from One to a Billion, by Gabi Snyder and illustrated by Sarah Walsh (Barefoot Books) begins with a single action, “one small person/taking one small step,” and builds to a depiction of collective action, with a billion diverse people “zooming towards a better future!”

We Have a Dream: Meet 30 Young Indigenous People and People of Color Protecting the Planet, written by Mya-Rose Craig and illustrated by Sabrena Khadija (Magic Cat), and What Do You See When You Look at a Tree? written and illustrated by Emma Carlisle (Penguin Random House).