{{short description|Journalist and author}} {{about||the Wales rugby union player|Florence Williams (rugby union)}} {{Use mdy dates|date=July 2022}} thumb|right|Williams in 2017 '''Florence Williams''' is an American journalist and nonfiction author whose work focuses on the environment, health and science. She is a contributing editor at Outside magazine<ref>{{cite web|title=Florence Williams|url=http://www.outsideonline.com/1741256/florence-williams|website=Outside|publisher=Outside magazine|accessdate=July 9, 2016}}</ref> and a freelance writer for National Geographic, the New York Times, New York Times Magazine, The New York Review of Books, Slate, Mother Jones, High Country News, O-Oprah, W., Bicycling and numerous other publications.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.florencewilliams.com|website=florencewilliams.com|last=|first=|date=|title=Florence Williams|archive-url=|archive-date=|accessdate=July 9, 2016}}</ref>
<blockquote>"Human milk is like ice cream, penicillin, and the drug ecstasy all wrapped up in two pretty packages." — Florence Williams<ref>{{cite web |title=30 Breastfeeding Quotes That Beautifully Describe What Nursing Is All About |url=https://www.romper.com/parenting/breastfeeding-quotes |website=Romper |access-date=14 April 2022 |language=en}}</ref><ref name="observer-body-politic">{{cite news |last1=Cardace |first1=Sara |title=The Body Politic: A Trove of New Books Examines Some Very Specific Anatomy |url=https://observer.com/2012/09/the-body-politic-a-trove-of-new-books-examines-some-very-specific-anatomy/ |access-date=14 April 2022 |work=The New York Observer |date=5 September 2012}}</ref><ref name="washingtonpost-McDonald-human-breast-milk">{{cite news |last1=McDonald |first1=Soraya Nadia |title=The newest, hottest workout recovery beverage: Human breast milk |url=https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/morning-mix/wp/2014/05/29/the-newest-hottest-workout-recovery-beverage-human-breast-milk/ |access-date=14 April 2022 |newspaper=Washington Post |date=May 29, 2014}}</ref></blockquote>
Her first book, ''Breasts: A Natural and Unnatural History'', received the Los Angeles Times Book Prize in science and technology and the 2013 Audie in general nonfiction.{{citation needed|date=May 2020}} The New York Times named it a notable book of 2012.{{citation needed|date=May 2020}}<ref>{{cite news|title=100 Notable Books of 2012|date=November 27, 2012|newspaper=The New York Times|url=https://www.nytimes.com/2012/12/02/books/review/100-notable-books-of-2012.html}}</ref>
Her second book, ''The Nature Fix'', which investigates connections between the brain and nature,<ref>{{cite news|newspaper=The New York Times|url=https://www.nytimes.com/2017/03/02/books/review/nature-fix-florence-williams.html|author=Mark, Jason|date=March 2, 2017|title=Review of ''The Nature Fix: Why Nature Makes Us Happier, Healthier, and More Creative'' by Florence Williams}}</ref> was released in February 2017. Edward O. Wilson called the book, "A beautifully written, thoroughly enjoyable exposition of a major principle of human life now supported by evidence in biology, psychology, and medicine."<ref>{{cite web|title=The Nature Fix|url=http://books.wwnorton.com/books/detail.aspx?ID=4294992673|publisher=WW Norton|accessdate=July 9, 2016}}</ref>
Her third book, ''Heartbreak'', which deals with her personal stress from divorce and the science underlying such stress, was released in February 2022.<ref>{{cite book|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=TCt1zgEACAAJ|title = Heartbreak: A Personal and Scientific Journey|isbn = 9781324003489|last1 = Williams|first1 = Florence|year = 2022|publisher=W. W. Norton}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.kirkusreviews.com/book-reviews/florence-williams/heartbreak-williams/|date=November 2021|title=Review of ''Heartbreak'' by Florence Williams|website=Kirkus Reviews}}</ref> In the book Williams reports on her own suffering and recounts her investigations of emotional heartbreak – including her experiences at "conferences, wilderness programs for sex-trafficked women, universities, medical specialists, countless studies, an epic paddle down the Green River and even a Museum of Broken Relationships in Zagreb, Croatia."<ref>{{cite news|newspaper=The Washington Post|title=''Her heart was broken — so she turned to science'' (review of ''Heartbreak: A Personal and Scientific Journey'' by Florence Williams)|author=Szegedy-Maszak, Marianne|date=March 11, 2022|url=https://www.washingtonpost.com/outlook/2022/03/11/her-heart-was-broken-so-she-turned-science/}}</ref>
She was a Scripps Fellow at the Center of Environmental Journalism<ref> {{cite web |url=http://centerforenvironmentaljournalism.businesscatalyst.com/former-fellows.html |website=Center of Environmental Journalism |publisher=University of Colorado |accessdate=July 9, 2016 |title=Former Fellows, 2007–2008 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160711191038/http://centerforenvironmentaljournalism.businesscatalyst.com/former-fellows.html |archive-date=July 11, 2016 |url-status=dead }}</ref> at the University of Colorado. She is a fellow at the Center for Humans and Nature and a visiting scholar at George Washington University.{{citation needed|date=May 2020}} She serves on the board of nonprofit environmental magazine, High Country News.{{citation needed|date=May 2020}}
She has received many awards, including six magazine awards from the American Society of Journalists and Authors and the John Hersey Prize at Yale. Her work has been anthologized in numerous books, including ''Outside 25'' (2002), ''The New Montana Story'' (2003), ''How the West Was Warmed'' (2009) and ''Best American Science and Nature Writing'' (2008). She was named "Author of the week" by The Week in May 2012. The Wall Street Journal calls her writing "droll and crisp."<ref>{{cite news|last1=Smith|first1=Jenni Erin|title=All Natural, or Not Quite|url=https://www.wsj.com/articles/SB10001424052702304746604577382322900847502|website=Wall Street Journal|date=May 11, 2012 |publisher=Wall Street Journal|accessdate=July 10, 2016}}</ref>
Williams is the writer and host of two Gracie-Award-winning Audible Original series, ''Breasts Unbound'' and ''The Three-Day Effect'', produced by Mary Beth Kirchner for Audible Originals.<ref>{{cite web | url=https://www.tpl.org/about/florence-williams | title=Florence Williams }}</ref> She was nominated for a 2022 Webby for a podcast episode written for Meditative Stories. In addition, she has made two appearances on Fresh Air with Terry Gross.<ref>{{cite web | url=https://www.npr.org/transcripts/1077235872?t=1654273063110 | title=Heartbroken? There's a scientific reason why breaking up feels so rotten | website=NPR }}</ref>
She lives in Washington, D.C.{{citation needed|date=May 2020}}
==References== {{Reflist}}
==External links== * {{cite web|title=Florence Williams: Your Brain on Nature|date=February 18, 2017|work=Town Hall Seattle|via=YouTube|url=https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=g4J6MV7boUQ}} * {{cite web|title=Florence Williams discusses "Heartbreak: A Personal and Scientific Journey" with Claire Dederer|date=February 8, 2022|author=Claire Dederer|work=Harvard Book Store|via=YouTube|url=https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=m1ROMxG2WNI}}
{{authority control}}
{{DEFAULTSORT:Williams, Florence}} Category:American non-fiction writers Category:Journalists from Washington, D.C. Category:Living people Category:1967 births