# Janisse Ray > Mediated Wiki article. Canonical URL: https://mediated.wiki/source/Janisse_Ray > Markdown URL: https://mediated.wiki/source/Janisse_Ray.md > Source: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Janisse_Ray > Source revision: 1356310104 > License: Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 International (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/) {{Short description|American writer, naturalist, and environmental activist}} {{more footnotes needed|date=August 2013}} {{Use mdy dates|date=November 2015}} {{infobox writer | name = Janisse Ray | image = Janisse Ray.jpg | imagesize = | alt = Author and environmentalist Janisse Ray stands at a wooden podium, looking down and reading something aloud. She is wearing a black sweater with a bright pink and orange scarf, and she stands against a black background. | caption = Janisse Ray speaking at East Georgia State College in 2012. | pseudonym = | birth_name = | birth_date = {{Birth date and age|1962|2|2}} | birth_place = [Baxley](/source/Baxley%2C_Georgia) [GA](/source/Georgia_(U.S._state)), US | death_date = | death_place = | resting_place = | occupation = Professor, environmental activist | language = English | education = [BA](/source/Bachelor_of_Arts), [Florida State](/source/Florida_State_University), 1984; [MFA](/source/Master_of_Fine_Arts), [Montana](/source/University_of_Montana), 1997 | alma_mater = | period = Contemporary | genre = Memoirs | subject = Nature, conservation, the American South | movement = | notableworks = ''Ecology of a Cracker Childhood'' | spouse = Raven Waters | partner = | children = Skye | relatives = | influences = | influenced = | awards = [American Book Award](/source/American_Book_Award), Southern Book Critics Circle Award, Southern Environmental Law Center Award for Outstanding Writing on the Southern Environment | signature = | signature_alt = | website = | portaldisp = }} '''Janisse Ray''' (born February 2, 1962) is an American writer, [naturalist](/source/naturalist), and [environmental activist](/source/environmental_activist). == Early life and education == Ray was born [Baxley, Georgia](/source/Baxley%2C_Georgia) to Franklin D. and Lee Ada Branch Ray.{{Citation needed|date=January 2025}}{{Cite book |last=Ray |first=Janisse |title=Ecology of a Cracker Childhood |publisher=Milkweed Editions |year=2015 |isbn=9781571313256 |edition=15th Anniversary |publication-date=24 November 2015}} Ray’s ancestors were listed in the first census in Appling county in 1820 and the town of Baxley was named for an ancestor as well.{{Citation needed|date=January 2025}} From 1980 to 1982, she attended [North Georgia College](/source/North_Georgia_College) where she found her passion for ecology, which led her to her career.{{Citation needed|date=January 2025}} She received a Bachelor of Arts from [Florida State University](/source/Florida_State_University) and a [Master of Fine Arts](/source/Master_of_Fine_Arts) from the [University of Montana](/source/University_of_Montana).{{Citation needed|date=January 2025}} == Career == ''Ecology of a Cracker Childhood'' (1999) recounts Ray's experiences growing up in a junkyard, the daughter of a poor, white, fundamentalist Christian family.{{Citation needed|date=January 2025}} In the book she surveys the ecological web she experienced as a child; including plant species ([Longleaf Pine](/source/Longleaf_pine), [Cypress Swamp](/source/Great_Cypress_Swamp), [Wiregrass](/source/Wiregrass), [Meadow Beauty](/source/Melastomataceae), [Liatris](/source/Liatris), [Greeneyes](/source/Berlandiera)) and animal species ([Flatwood Salamander](/source/Flatwoods_salamander_(disambiguation)), [Bachman's sparrow](/source/Bachman's_sparrow), [Pine Warbler](/source/Pine_warbler), [Carolina Wren](/source/Carolina_wren), [Red-Cockaded Woodpecker](/source/Red-cockaded_woodpecker), [Eastern Bluebird](/source/Eastern_bluebird), [Brown-Headed Nuthatch](/source/Brown-headed_nuthatch), [Yellow Breasted Chat](/source/Yellow-breasted_chat), [Red-headed woodpecker](/source/Red-headed_woodpecker), [Eastern Kingbird](/source/Eastern_kingbird), [Common ground dove](/source/Common_ground_dove), [Quail](/source/Quail), [Gopher Tortoises](/source/Gopher_tortoise)) along with how she fits into this world as part of the human species. The book interweaves family history and memoir with [natural history](/source/natural_history) writing—specifically, descriptions of the ecology of the vanishing longleaf pine forests that once blanketed much of [the South](/source/Southern_United_States). The book won the [American Book Award](/source/American_Book_Award), the Southern Book Critics Circle Award and the [Southern Environmental Law Center](/source/Southern_Environmental_Law_Center) Award for Outstanding Writing on the Southern environment. It also was chosen for the "All Georgia Reading the Same Book" project by the Georgia Center for the Book. Critics have noted that the book combines personal narrative with environmental advocacy, emphasizing the cultural and ecological importance of preserving the longleaf pine ecosystem.https://www.georgiaencyclopedia.org/articles/arts-culture/janisse-ray-b-1962/ In ''Wild Card Quilt'' (2003) she relates her experiences moving back home to [Georgia](/source/Georgia_(U.S._state)) with her son after attending graduate school in [Montana](/source/Montana). ''Pinhook'' (2005) tells the story of Pinhook Swamp, the land that connects the [Okefenokee Swamp](/source/Okefenokee_Swamp) in Georgia and [Osceola National Forest](/source/Osceola_National_Forest) in Florida. ''Drifting into Darien'', published in 2011, describes her experiences on and knowledge about the [Altamaha River](/source/Altamaha_River), which runs from middle Georgia to the Atlantic Ocean at [Darien](/source/Darien%2C_Georgia). Ray published a book of poetry, ''A House of Branches'' (2010){{cite book |last1=Ray |first1=Janisse |title=A House of Branches: Poems |publisher=Wind Publications |isbn=978-1936138142 |url=https://www.amazon.co.uk/House-Branches-Janisse-Ray/dp/193613814X}} and has been a contributor to ''[Audubon](/source/Audubon_(magazine)),'' ''[Orion](/source/Orion_(online_magazine))'' and other magazines, as well as a commentator for [NPR](/source/NPR)'s ''[Living on Earth](/source/Living_on_Earth)''. An environmental activist, she has campaigned on behalf of the Altamaha River and the Moody Swamp.{{cite web |title=Janisse Ray |url=https://www.infinite-women.com/women/janisse-ray/ |website=Infinite Women |access-date=16 February 2026}} Her 2012 book ''The Seed Underground: A Growing Revolution to Save Food'' won multiple awards, including the Arlene Eisenberg Award for Writing that Makes a Difference, American Horticultural Society Book Award, Nautilus Gold Book Award, Garden Writers Association Gold Award, and the Green Prize for Sustainable Literature Award.{{Cite web |title=Janisse Ray |url=https://humansandnature.org/janisse-ray/ |access-date=2026-04-02 |website=Center for Humans & Nature |language=en-US}} She previously taught in the [Chatham University](/source/Chatham_University) [Low-Residency](/source/Low-residency_program) [Master of Fine Arts Program](/source/Master_of_Fine_Arts) [in Creative Writing](/source/Creative_Writing). Currently, she is a visiting professor and writer-in-residence at universities and colleges across the country. She lectures nationally on nature, agriculture, seeds, wildness, sustainability, writing, and politics of wholeness. == Personal life == She has a son, Silas Ausable, who attended the [University of Massachusetts](/source/University_of_Massachusetts) and studied [landscape architecture](/source/landscape_architecture). She lives a simple, sustainable life in southern Georgia on Red Earth Farm with her husband and daughter. She is an organic gardener, she tends farm animals, she is a proponent of slow-cook food, and a seed saver. She is very active in her local community.{{Cite web |url=https://www.humansandnature.org/janisse-ray |title=Janisse Ray |website=www.humansandnature.org |access-date=March 21, 2021 |archive-date=May 19, 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210519031625/https://www.humansandnature.org/janisse-ray |url-status=live }} ==Books== * ''Ecology of a Cracker Childhood'', memoir (Minneapolis: Milkweed Editions, 1999). {{ISBN|9781571312341}} * ''Wild Card Quilt: Taking a Chance on Home'', memoir (Minneapolis: Milkweed Editions, 2003). {{ISBN|978-1-57131-272-3}} * ''Between Two Rivers: Stories from the Red Hills to the Gulf'', (Co-editor, with [Susan Cerulean](/source/Susan_Cerulean) and Laura Newtown) nonfiction (Tallahassee: Heart of the Earth, 2004). {{ISBN|9780975933909}} * ''Pinhook: Finding Wholeness in a Fragmented Land,'', nonfiction (White River Junction: Chelsea Green Publishing Company, 2005). {{ISBN|9781931498746}} * ''A House of Branches'', poetry (Nicholasville: Wind Publications, 2010). {{ISBN|9781936138142}} * ''Drifting into Darien: a Personal and Natural History of the Altamaha River,'' nonfiction (Athens: The University of Georgia Press, 2011). {{ISBN|9780820338156}} * ''The Seed Underground: A Growing Revolution to Save Food,'' nonfiction (White River Junction: Chelsea Green Publishing Company, 2012). {{ISBN|978-1603583077}} * ''Red Lanterns: Poems'', poetry (Iris Press, 2021). {{ISBN|9781604542592}} * ''Wild Spectacle: Seeking Wonders in a World beyond Humans'', nonfiction (Trinity University Press, 2021). {{ISBN|9781595349576}} ==References== {{Reflist}} ===Sources=== [Contemporary Authors](/source/Contemporary_Authors) Online. The Gale Group, 2005. ==External links== * [http://milkweed.org/shop/product/216 Milkweed Editions] webpage for ''Ecology of a Cracker Childhood'' * [http://windpub.com/books/branches.htm Wind Publications] webpage for ''House of Branches'' * [http://www.georgiaencyclopedia.org/nge/Article.jsp?id=h-2562 Georgia Encyclopedia] entry for Janisse Ray * [http://www.wholeterrain.org/bio.cfm?Contributor_ID=305 Whole Terrain] link to Ray's articles published in [Whole Terrain](/source/Whole_Terrain) * Janisse Ray and Nancy Marshall, [http://southernspaces.org/2011/james-holland-riverkeeper-environmental-protection-along-altamaha "James Holland, Riverkeeper: Environmental Protection Along the Altamaha"], ''Southern Spaces'', August 11, 2011. * Janisse Ray, [http://southernspaces.org/2012/sowing-seed-underground "Sowing ''The Seed Underground''"], ''Southern Spaces'', October 23, 2012. {{Authority control}} {{DEFAULTSORT:Ray, Janisse}} Category:1962 births Category:Living people Category:American naturalists Category:Chatham University faculty Category:People from Baxley, Georgia Category:Writers from Georgia (U.S. state) Category:American women science writers Category:American Book Award winners Category:American nature writers Category:American women academics Category:21st-century American women Category:Organic gardeners --- Adapted from the Wikipedia article [Janisse Ray](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Janisse_Ray) by Wikipedia contributors ([contributor history](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Janisse_Ray?action=history)). Available under [Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 International](https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/). Changes may have been made.