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Laura Pritchett, who directs the MFA with a concentration in Nature Writing, has two novels coming out in 2024, and they could not be more different.
Laura Pritchett’s Love of Mother Nature Takes Many Forms
Two novels, one love of Mother Earth.
Laura Pritchett, who directs the MFA with a concentration in Nature Writing, has two novels coming out in 2024, and they could not be more different. One is called “Playing with [Wild]Fire,” and is a literary work composed of experimental, boundary-blurring work, and the other is “Three Keys,” a traditional upmarket “beach read.” But both share one important thing: The call for environmental justice and the plea for renewed caretaking for Mother Earth.
Given their difference, it’s not surprising that the publishers are wildly different too. The first is published by Torrey House Press, whose mission statement is “Voices for the Land.” They are the only literary, nonprofit book publisher focusing on conservation through literature in the American West. “Three Keys,” on the other hand, is published by Ballantine, an imprint of Penguin Random, and is known for books defined by the intersection of quality and wide appeal. “In certain ways, the presses are very different,” Pritchett said. “But the thing they have in common is great editors, a great design team, and great people. Everyone believes in getting good books out into the world, and I’m grateful to be on both presses’ list.”
“Playing with {Wild}Fire” recounts the days leading up to a Colorado mountain town’s evacuation from a wildfire, and is based on Pritchett’s own experience of the 2012 and 2020 fires near her hometown in northern Colorado. The book is told from multiple points of view, and is a polyphonic tale of what wildfire does to community—and how bifurcated neighbors must come together to help and heal after moments of trauma.
“Three Keys” has a lighter premise, but is equally focused on environmental issues today. “It’s about a woman who has just lost the ‘three keys’ of her life’s purpose—her husband, her job, and her mom-ing role, and she’s mystified to find herself in middle-age,” Pritchett said. “But she does have three literal keys. Keys to empty homes she plans on breaking into. And so she embarks on an international and increasingly problematic journey as she seeks to find a life truly her own. This growth means rethinking her priorities and a renewed focus on caretaking our planet.” Part of this novel also takes place in Colorado, which is unsurprising, since Pritchett was born here and jokes in her monthly “Colorado Sun” column that she wants business cards that read “Professional Coloradoan” since exploring—and loving—the state is one of her passions.
These two books will be Pritchett’s six and seventh novels. Known for championing the complex and contemporary West, giving voice to the working class, and “re-writing the traditional Western,” her books are always explorations of the very-serious business of living a full and honest life.
