Each year the St. Lawrence English Department introduces an array of authors to the campus community through the Writer Series, and this season began with author Leila Philip.
Philip’s works include “The Road Through Miyama,” “A Family Place: A Hudson Valley Farm, Three Centuries,” “Five Wars, One Family and Water Rising.” She has received the PEN Martha Albrand Special Citation for Nonfiction, awards for history and documentation of American life and fellowships from the John Simon Guggenheim Memorial Foundation, the National Endowment for the Arts and the National Endowment for the Humanities. Philip is also a contributor to the Boston Globe and teaches courses in creative writing and environmental studies at the College of Holy Cross.
The title piece in her recent book, “Water Rising,” inspired Philip’s current project, “Beaverland.” The title piece is about an encounter with a beaver, but also explores the concept of change. “It’s about transformation,” said Philips, “and the beaver is the vehicle for exploring those things.”
Philip fell in love with beavers and possessed a desire to learn more, which soon led to five years of research and the creation of “Beaverland.” “Through destruction beavers create, and that’s a really profound and complicated thought the more you think about it.” The mystery of the beaver had to be engaged before researching the facts, she further explained.
In addition to its metaphorical use, Philip also utilizes the beaver to trace the historical nature of American imperialism. The fur trade founded the first American economy and, according to Philip, the beaver also offers a story for the ways in which humans can alter their exploitative relationship to nature. “I had never thought about it as a lens through which to look at American history,” she said. “But in storytelling you’re often looking for a lens or a way into a more complicated story.”
For Philip, asking questions is an important aspect of the writing process. “It’s about asking questions, and just pushing at the paradoxes and contradictions of what it means to be human,” she said. And what started as a poem in “Water Rising,” soon led to five years of extensive research. Philip delved into documentation of the fur trade, and in addition, immersed herself in all things beavers by going out in the field with trappers, wildlife biologists, environmental vigilantes and Native American Environmentalists.
She discovered that environmental projects in western parts of the US, and somewhat in eastern regions, are focused on returning beavers to their habitats. So she “began to think this was also a really interesting way to think about environmentalism, climate change and the environmental challenges we face today.”
“Beaverland” is currently in the writing stage and will consist of 14 chapters. Philip has completed four and chose to share a chapter with the St. Lawrence community. “It’s an exciting stage to read from,” she stated.