Exclusive Excerpt from From the Ground Up + an Interview with Stephanie Anderson
At Ninth Letter, we were introduced to Stephanie Anderson’s work when her essay, “Disturbance,” won our inaugural Regeneration writing contest, sponsored by I-Regen, which asks writers to “submit poetry, fiction, and creative nonfiction responding to or exploring the subject of “regeneration,” specifically as it relates to food and food systems.”
Anderson’s essay was a standout with its meticulous research woven amongst evocative, observational prose. It takes a particular talent to inform without falling into didacticism, to take a stance while attending to the complexities in arguments with real-world stakes. It takes another particular talent to accomplish this with beautiful, embodied writing. These are Anderson’s specialties.
When we read Anderson’s new book, From the Ground Up: The Women Revolutionizing Regenerative Agriculture (The New Press 2024), we knew she’d done it again. In From The Ground Up, Anderson brings the same dedication to literary reportage and the human stories as she did in her first critically acclaimed book, One Size Fits None: A Farm Girl’s Search for the Promise of Regenerative Agriculture (University of Nebraska Press 2019).
We are proud to present this exclusive excerpt from From the Ground Up and an enlightening interview between Anderson and Ninth Letter editorial assistant Steven Bergmark. Thank you for reading.
—Liz Harms, Editor
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