Map for the Heart: Ida Valley Essays
To live in Central Otago is to come to terms with the dominance of nature. Writer Jillian Sullivan set out to walk the hills and mountains of the Ida Valley where she lives, and follow the Manuherekia River from the mountains to its confluence with the Clutha/Mata-au. Her aim was to explore not only the land and river for themselves, but the ways in which we grow in intimacy with where we live; how our histories, and those of the people who went before us, our experiences of loss and love, our awakening to what is around us, bring us closer to community—closer to a meaningful life. Map for the Heart is a haunting collection of essays braiding history and memoir with environmentalism amid an awareness of the seasonal fluctuations of light and wind, heat and snow, plants and creatures, and the lives and work of locals. In writing that is psychologically nurturing and deeply attentive to all that’s around, Sullivan leads readers to the core of the questions that persist throughout a life: who to love, how to love, how to be independent and yet how to live a moral life that also cares for others. The land reminds us, she writes, that we are not in charge.
"1137636496"
Map for the Heart: Ida Valley Essays
To live in Central Otago is to come to terms with the dominance of nature. Writer Jillian Sullivan set out to walk the hills and mountains of the Ida Valley where she lives, and follow the Manuherekia River from the mountains to its confluence with the Clutha/Mata-au. Her aim was to explore not only the land and river for themselves, but the ways in which we grow in intimacy with where we live; how our histories, and those of the people who went before us, our experiences of loss and love, our awakening to what is around us, bring us closer to community—closer to a meaningful life. Map for the Heart is a haunting collection of essays braiding history and memoir with environmentalism amid an awareness of the seasonal fluctuations of light and wind, heat and snow, plants and creatures, and the lives and work of locals. In writing that is psychologically nurturing and deeply attentive to all that’s around, Sullivan leads readers to the core of the questions that persist throughout a life: who to love, how to love, how to be independent and yet how to live a moral life that also cares for others. The land reminds us, she writes, that we are not in charge.
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Map for the Heart: Ida Valley Essays

Map for the Heart: Ida Valley Essays

by Jillian Sullivan
Map for the Heart: Ida Valley Essays

Map for the Heart: Ida Valley Essays

by Jillian Sullivan

Paperback

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Overview

To live in Central Otago is to come to terms with the dominance of nature. Writer Jillian Sullivan set out to walk the hills and mountains of the Ida Valley where she lives, and follow the Manuherekia River from the mountains to its confluence with the Clutha/Mata-au. Her aim was to explore not only the land and river for themselves, but the ways in which we grow in intimacy with where we live; how our histories, and those of the people who went before us, our experiences of loss and love, our awakening to what is around us, bring us closer to community—closer to a meaningful life. Map for the Heart is a haunting collection of essays braiding history and memoir with environmentalism amid an awareness of the seasonal fluctuations of light and wind, heat and snow, plants and creatures, and the lives and work of locals. In writing that is psychologically nurturing and deeply attentive to all that’s around, Sullivan leads readers to the core of the questions that persist throughout a life: who to love, how to love, how to be independent and yet how to live a moral life that also cares for others. The land reminds us, she writes, that we are not in charge.

Product Details

ISBN-13: 9781988592565
Publisher: Otago University Press
Publication date: 01/08/2021
Pages: 280
Product dimensions: 6.00(w) x 9.25(h) x 0.80(d)

About the Author

Jillian Sullivan lives and writes in the Ida Valley, Central Otago. Her 12 published books include creative non-fiction, novels, memoir, short story collections, and poetry. She teaches writing workshops in New Zealand and the US. Once the drummer in a women’s indie pop band, her passion now is natural building and earth plastering. Her latest book is the memoir A Way Home, about building her own strawbale home (Potton and Burton, 2016).

Table of Contents

Becoming Something Other 9

Between Lands 17

Ancient Land 25

A Privileged Job 35

The Hawkdun Range 37

A Roof Over Our Heads 51

Cycling with Bartali: A year in the valley 59

In the Midst of My True Life 83

Barefoot Running 91

Snow of 63 99

Love, Loss and the Fraser Basin 101

The Art and Adventure of Subsistence 115

Growing Closer 125

The Primitive Hut 135

Lifting Walls 139

What if a River Wants to Sing? 151

Blackstone Hill 169

Three Paths to Rough Ridge 185

Across the Whited Fields 197

References by Essay 209

Acknowledgements 216

Thanks 217

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