Connecting to the Wild in Urban Landscapes with Christopher Brown, A Natural History of Empty Lots

I'm delighted to be joined in conversation by Christopher Brown, author of A Natural History of Empty Lots, field notes from Urban Edgelands, Back Alleys & other wild places. 

In this captivating conversation Chris’ lyrical descriptions take us on a beautiful journey, as we join him in stepping off the pavement into a world where nature has adapted to thrive in the most unlikely of environments at the heart of our urbanised landscapes. He describes his ambitious plan to create a home for his family on an industrialised wasteland where he has miraculously balanced their needs in a way that also allows him to actively seek to share the space with other species. 

Chris reminds us that rewildling doesn’t require the depopulation of humans & that there is an intrinsic link between the social & economic injustices in our world & the damaged relationship we have with the natural world & the land we live on. But he also encourages us to remember that nature has an incredible ability to respond to the opportunities we make for her & that we don’t have to wait for global institutions to take the lead we ourselves can be the catalysts for change in remaking a new world.

Christopher Brown is the Philip K. Dick, World Fantasy, and John W. Campbell Award-nominated author of the novels Tropic of Kansas, Rule of Capture, and Failed State. Also an accomplished lawyer, he has worked on two Supreme Court confirmation hearings, led the technology corporate practice of a major American law firm, and has been the general counsel of two public companies.

A Natural History of Empty Lots by Christopher Brown is a genre-bending blend of naturalism, memoir, and social manifesto for rewilding the city, the self, and society. Through his keen examination of abandoned industrial sites, empty lots, and deserted agricultural land, Brown discovers that even in these so-called "ruined landscapes" nature's resilience shines. Inspired by its unfailing persistence to return, Brown shows us how easy it can be to bring the wilds back to these damaged places and why it is critical that we do.

Over the course of twenty years, Brown documented these liminal spaces, explored them with his son, and even built his home in Austin, Texas on a brownfield site bisected by oil pipelines. Infused with Brown's deep love of nature and a constant sense of awe, A Natural History of Empty Lots combines field notes from Brown's travels with his personal story as he traverses the nexus of the city and the wilds.

Offering a new lens on human disruption and wild lands, he reminds readers of the magic in nature, “the seemingly supernatural wonders produced by everyday interactions among different elements of the natural world. Things that can all be explained by science, but also understood by poets. Even in the most urbanized human terrains, those wonders can still be found—most often at the edges where the pavement ends and the wild is allowed to express.”

Website: https://christopherbrown.com/

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