Announcing the 2013 Desert Writers Award Recipient:
Sarah Stewart Johnson
BLUFF, UT – The Ellen Meloy Fund for Desert Writers has chosen Sarah Stewart Johnson of Cambridge, Mass. as the recipient of the eighth annual Desert Writers Award.
The $3,000 grant will support research and writing for Pale Red Dot, a work of creative nonfiction that will explore the connections between deserts on Earth and the environments of nearby planets. Her project will take her to the Yilgarn Craton on the edge of the Nullabor Plain in Western Australia, a billion-year-old geologic formation that “mirrors what Mars once was.”
Johnson writes:
The relentless red deserts of Mars resonate with meaning. They are places where no one has ever gone, and where no one alive today may ever go. How do we make sense of their silent wilderness? In my mind, the canon of desert literature is incomplete without them. … I hope [this project] will help readers appreciate this stark, compelling landscape, and to expand their understanding of what the desert is and where it can be found.
In short, using scenes from both Mars and from similarly harsh environments on Earth, the book will provide a meditation on, and a vivid description of, the stunning resiliency of life: how it can adapt to an environment, wedge into a crevasse, and hang on against all odds.
Johnson’s childhood home was in Kentucky. As a college freshman she joined a research team "headed into the heart of the Mojave" to test a prototype of the Mars Rover. Since then her Mars research has taken her to deserts "all over the world, from the Patagonian Steppe to the polar deserts of Antarctica to the salt flats of Western Australia." Between field campaigns in the Mojave, she once stayed “in a tent at the base of the Granite Mountains for over a month writing for hours each day in a small yellow book.”
“It is through writing” she says, “that I’ve found the most success in reconciling the great mysteries around me.”
Upon receiving the award, Johnson says, "Ellen Meloy was drawn to the desert's immense, trembling landscape, and her rigorous and courageous exploration of its far reaches drew us with her. To be given an award in her name is such a gift. I can only aspire to write so beautifully.”
Awards Committee member Ann Walka described Johnson’s work as providing “an exhilarating perspective on desert literacy proposed by a writer who has the depth of experience, intellectual rigor, and lyrical sensibility to take us to two fantastic, barely known landscapes. I love both the strangeness and the scope of the proposal and the grace and wisdom in her writing.”
Don Snow, chair of the Meloy Fund Awards Committee, noted how Johnson’s proposal stretches the boundaries of how deserts may be defined. “Her scientific imagination has led her to make some truly fascinating analogies,” he says. “In light of the rapid spread of deserts in the era of anthropogenic climate change, it may behoove all of us to confront the image of what may be the ultimate desert, the planet Mars. Committee members were utterly intrigued with Sarah’s plan to use the Yilgarn Craton as a Martian analog.”
Johnson holds a Ph.D. in Planetary Science from MIT; a M.Sc. in Biology from the University of Oxford; a B.A. in Philosophy, Politics, and Economics from Oxford and a B.A. in Mathematics and Environmental Studies from Washington University in St. Louis. Along with fellowships from NASA, the White House, Harvard University, and the International Institute for Sustainable Development, Johnson has received numerous awards and scholarships.
The $3,000 grant will support research and writing for Pale Red Dot, a work of creative nonfiction that will explore the connections between deserts on Earth and the environments of nearby planets. Her project will take her to the Yilgarn Craton on the edge of the Nullabor Plain in Western Australia, a billion-year-old geologic formation that “mirrors what Mars once was.”
Johnson writes:
The relentless red deserts of Mars resonate with meaning. They are places where no one has ever gone, and where no one alive today may ever go. How do we make sense of their silent wilderness? In my mind, the canon of desert literature is incomplete without them. … I hope [this project] will help readers appreciate this stark, compelling landscape, and to expand their understanding of what the desert is and where it can be found.
In short, using scenes from both Mars and from similarly harsh environments on Earth, the book will provide a meditation on, and a vivid description of, the stunning resiliency of life: how it can adapt to an environment, wedge into a crevasse, and hang on against all odds.
Johnson’s childhood home was in Kentucky. As a college freshman she joined a research team "headed into the heart of the Mojave" to test a prototype of the Mars Rover. Since then her Mars research has taken her to deserts "all over the world, from the Patagonian Steppe to the polar deserts of Antarctica to the salt flats of Western Australia." Between field campaigns in the Mojave, she once stayed “in a tent at the base of the Granite Mountains for over a month writing for hours each day in a small yellow book.”
“It is through writing” she says, “that I’ve found the most success in reconciling the great mysteries around me.”
Upon receiving the award, Johnson says, "Ellen Meloy was drawn to the desert's immense, trembling landscape, and her rigorous and courageous exploration of its far reaches drew us with her. To be given an award in her name is such a gift. I can only aspire to write so beautifully.”
Awards Committee member Ann Walka described Johnson’s work as providing “an exhilarating perspective on desert literacy proposed by a writer who has the depth of experience, intellectual rigor, and lyrical sensibility to take us to two fantastic, barely known landscapes. I love both the strangeness and the scope of the proposal and the grace and wisdom in her writing.”
Don Snow, chair of the Meloy Fund Awards Committee, noted how Johnson’s proposal stretches the boundaries of how deserts may be defined. “Her scientific imagination has led her to make some truly fascinating analogies,” he says. “In light of the rapid spread of deserts in the era of anthropogenic climate change, it may behoove all of us to confront the image of what may be the ultimate desert, the planet Mars. Committee members were utterly intrigued with Sarah’s plan to use the Yilgarn Craton as a Martian analog.”
Johnson holds a Ph.D. in Planetary Science from MIT; a M.Sc. in Biology from the University of Oxford; a B.A. in Philosophy, Politics, and Economics from Oxford and a B.A. in Mathematics and Environmental Studies from Washington University in St. Louis. Along with fellowships from NASA, the White House, Harvard University, and the International Institute for Sustainable Development, Johnson has received numerous awards and scholarships.
Recipients Speak Out: Carrying on Ellen's Literary Legacy
Ellen Meloy was drawn to the desert's immense, trembling landscape, and her rigorous and courageous exploration of its far reaches drew us with her. To be given an award in her name is such a gift. I can only aspire to write so beautifully.
- Sarah Stewart Johnson, 2013 Ellen Meloy writes of wild things - herself included - with such dazzle, wit, and wonder. From the astonishing poetry of her words to the soaring, exploring life and spirit they reflect, she is a role model of mine in more than simply a literary sense. I am so honoured to be associated with her legacy through this award. ~ Kate Harris, 2012 Being in this land, you realize how intimate it is, a tight neighborhood of canyons, plains, rivers, plateaus, and mountains. Maybe every geography is like this, but we belong to this one. It is a home in itself. When I received Ellen’s award, I understood even more who and what I was writing for. I felt rooted into this lineage of writers and readers who know what it means to stand on this iron-rust ground and belong. ~ Craig Childs, 2011 I am deeply honored to join the Ellen Meloy family of writers. Ellen combined the artistry of words with the lens of a scientist. She was a gifted writer and an empathetic soul. I am continually struck by the eloquence and ingenuity of her language; I am changed by the thoughts she placed in my head. ~ Michelle Lanzoni, 2010 To receive the Ellen Meloy Desert Writers Award is to brush up against Ellen's grace, to sway against her glittering body of work. And the funds provided have allowed me to forge ahead with ... a project that was difficult to launch amid the financial uncertainties of today's publishing world. Indeed, when it is finished, the project will be all the better for having Ellen's mark on it. ~ Amy Irvine McHarg, 2009 I'm truly grateful for the help the Ellen Meloy Fund has provided me, and I more than admire Ellen's relationship with the desert country and her art--hers was a life to aspire to. ~ Joe Wilkins, 2008 I wrote because I had been there, thanks to Ellen Meloy, who cherished the ways of the desert, and the Ellen Meloy Fund and community at large, which honors her memory and the things she loved. Supporting the Ellen Meloy Fund is supporting this dream of traveling and writing deserts and their secrets across our planet. ~ Lily Mabura, 2007 With its very existence and recognition of desert writers, the EMF provides a hub of support that honors and protects the land. I can't think of anything more important to such perilous times for fragile environments. ~ Rebecca Lawton, 2006 |
Support the Fund - Donate Today!The Ellen Meloy Fund for Desert Writers sends willing and talented out to the desert to write. The annual award of $3,000 helps artists with expenses related to spending creative time in a desert environment.
The benefits are huge--writers are enriched by the enduring powers of the desert and their readers gain knowledge and a passion for desert places. What began in 2005 as an effort to honor the talents, spirit, and memory of a cherished friend and vastly talented writer and artist has grown into a stable, vibrant, and enduring organization. The Ellen Meloy Fund for Desert Writers provides recognition and a small base of financial support for exceptional writers of the desert who carry on in the spirit of Ellen Meloy. The EMF Award is recognized and established in literary circles. Thanks to the generosity of our supporters over the years (and into the future), the voice Ellen gave the desert continues to reach and inspire us. |
The Ellen Meloy Fund for Desert Writers is a nonprofit organization with tax-exempt status under section 501(c)(3).
