Writer in a Life Vest

In Writer in a Life Vest, Iris Graville pulls out all the stops to immerse us in the magnificent Salish Sea—and the crises of our time—with creativity, integrity, and grace. She jams with ukuleles, imagines conversations with Rachel Carson, writes vows of commitment, admires orcas and grieves them, and ultimately insists on hope. Equal parts wonder and urgency, Writer in a Life Vest is nature writing at its best. 

—Ana Maria Spagna, author of Uplake: Restless Essays of Coming and Going and Reclaimers

Writing residencies take myriad forms, and leave it to intrepid Lopez Island writer Iris Graville to be the first writer-in-residence on the Washington State Ferries. Her linked essays are as varied in shape as the San Juan Islands she cruised past onboard the MV Tillikum for a year. Lists, songs, vows, imagined conversations, and other innovative forms are woven together by Graville’s fierce love for the Salish Sea and all its inhabitants. This timely collection offers sobering facts and grounds for hope in equal measure, underscored by a sense of urgency—"because what we do—or don’t do—now will be an inheritance for all time.” Like the ferry, these essays leave a powerful wake. 

—Holly J. Hughes, author of Hold Fast and Passings, winner of an American Book Award 

Where does the energy in nature writing lie? In experimental form and technique, in new stories well told, in honest accounts of what it is to be a conscious and conscientious dweller on beautiful planet Earth. This book. Whether it be a postcard from orcas, an imagined conversation with Greta Thunberg, or nine ways to write from a ferry, Graville will capture your imagination and your beating heart. Along with other compelling voices today, she is asking us to see the world anew, thus seeing solutions and hope anew. I love this book! 

—Laura Pritchett, PEN USA Award winner; Director of the MFA in Nature Writing, Western Colorado University

"Part personal reflection, part insightful commentary, all beautifully written … Graville’s essays foster a sense of place filled with wonder and hope—key ingredients for taking better care of the Salish Sea and all of us who depend on it.”

—Joseph K. Gaydos, Co-Author of the The Salish Sea: Jewel of the Pacific Northwest and Explore the Salish Sea

Witty, creative, insightful, and evocative, Writer in a Life Vest is passionate paean to the Salish Sea, ferry riding, and the creatures and people that inhabit this beautiful body of water. As the state’s first writer-in-residence on a ferry, Iris Graville opens our eyes and hearts to the importance of caring for, paying attention to, and protecting the places we love. 

—David B. Williams, author of Homewaters: A Human and Natural History of Puget Sound

The Salish Sea comes alive in this inspired collection of essays written by Iris Graville, who takes us on her journey through the San Juan Islands. Creatively woven together, we learn from these essays about the petition for a name change for the Salish Sea, and we discover the plight and the profound beauty of the Southern Resident Orcas. Most importantly, through Graville’s poetry and narrative rhythm, we hear the alarm bell for each of us to take immediate action in today’s climate crisis.  

 —Kip Robinson Greenthal, author of Shoal Water

When a landscape makes a truth-claim on a human, blessed is s/he who hears, and heeds, it. In Iris Graville, the Salish Sea found a “good and faithful servant” who devoted her time and talent to becoming the eyes, ears, and voice of the sea and its inhabitants. Through her imagination and writing skills, Graville succeeds in sharing both information and inspiration while bravely bearing witness on behalf of a beloved landscape. And we readers are the richer, and wiser, for it.  

—Gail Collins-Ranadive, author of Dinosaur Dreaming: Our Climate Moment

Mariners know the importance of safety at sea. We equip our vessels with emergency gear and watch our ship’s instruments for hazards to navigation. In Writer in a Life Vest, Iris Graville alerts us to the dangers that threaten the safety of the sea itself. Every essay deepens our knowledge and love of these inland waters. Her words sound out a Mayday call to immediately begin a rescue of the Salish Sea. 

—Migael Scherer, author A Cruising Guide to Puget Sound

Graville writes through prose and poetry specifically of the Southern Resident orcas of the Salish Sea of Washington and British Columbia, but more generally of the climate crisis and how our actions today will affect all beings well into the future. Writer in a Life Vest is filled with wonder, tolerance, and sometimes brutal honesty, and peopled with the likes of Sylvia Earl, Greta Thunberg, and Rachel Carson. It stands as an ode on a ferry; a love song for the Salish Sea and all its inhabitants; and a carefully researched, heartfelt, deftly-written, and convincing plea to change what we can while we can.  

—Gene Helfman, author of Beyond the Human Realm