UW News

Jason Groves

December 7, 2017

A literary view of the human era: ‘Anthropocene Reading’

"Anthropocene Reading: Literary History in Geologic Times" was published in October by Penn State Press. It was co-edited by Jesse Oak Taylor, UW associate professor of English.

The Anthropocene epoch — the proposed name for this time of significant human effect on the planet and its systems — represents a new context in which to study literature. A new book of essays co-edited by Jesse Oak Taylor, UW associate professor of English, argues that literary studies, in turn, also can help us better understand the Anthropocene.