New Book by Program Alumnus Martin Spenger

Former RCC library associate and doctoral candidate Martin Spenger has published a new book based on his PhD dissertation: Green Beat: Gary Snyder und die moderne amerikanische Umweltbewegung (Vandenhoeck & Ruprecht, 2020). The book is also part of the series Umwelt und Gesellschaft, edited by RCC directors Christof Mauch and Helmuth Trischler.

Martin’s book represents the world's first biography of the poet and activist Gary Snyder. Using secondary literature and a rich collection of other sources alongside Snyder’s works, he provides a detailed and accessible narrative that will appeal to a wide audience. Green Beat presents Snyder as an activist of an interdisciplinary deep ecology, bioregionalism, and "panhumanism." The book describes Snyder's passion for nature, which developed early on in life, his study of Asian culture that inspired much of his poetry, his unique role within Californian counterculture, and the journey to his collection of essays "The Practice of the Wild."

Green Beat: Gary Snyder und die moderne amerikanische Umweltbewegung was recently reviewed by the major German news outlet “Der Tagespiegel.” You can read the review (in German) here.