Originally a quarterly journal, Terra Nova is now a book series that aims to show how environmental issues are at the center of today's cultural debate. The anthologies include reportage, interviews, essays, poetry, prose, and art, crossing the boarders between disciplines to show how serious discussions occur in many fields of creative inquiry.

A lovely hardcover book, Terra Nova is published by The MIT Press and other university presses. The topics for the collection vary, though all books are tied together with a single theme. Past publications are Writing the Future, Writing on Air, Writing on Water, The Book of Nature and Music, The World and the Wild, and The New Earth Reader.

Books produced by Terra Nova, a project of the New Jersey Institute of Technology, include:

Writing the World: On Globalization (The MIT Press, 2005) focuses on the cultural realities of globalism—the opportunities it provides to learn from other cultures. This knowledge, argue David Rothenberg and Wandee Pryor in their introduction, can be power: "When all of us learn enough about our differences to respect the diversity that exists, we will be unable to pretend we are the same. We will never accept the old innocence and ignorance bred by oppression and exploitation." For the contributors to Writing the World, to dream of the global village is to see the world not as a vast market but as a place of shared values and linked wonder.

Writing the Future: Progress and Evolution (The MIT Press, 2004) asks: Is society moving anywhere in particular? Is nature improving? Are people improving? Is change put in motion by randomness, or are there other forces as work? Chance vs. plan. Genetic engineering. Biodiversity. Cultural diversity. Changes in language, music, art, animals into people, people into animals, technology getting faster, or slower, people running out of time, or finding more time.

Writing on Air (The MIT Press, 2003) ranges from aerial plankton to Navajo wind gods, from joyful singing to painful emphysema, from gentle breezes to violent storms—creating a fresh way of thinking about the role of air in our everyday lives.

Writing on Water (The MIT Press, 2001), a vast anthology using art, literature, photography, activism, and policy to discuss this crucial element was called: “A great choice for anyone who wants a little watery reading to nourish the soul.” — New Age Journal

The Book of Music and Nature (Wesleyan University Press, 2001) received outstanding marks in the ALA/AAUP’s 2002 University Press Books Selected for Public and Secondary School Libraries, 12th Edition. The first anthology published on music and nature was described as: “An impressive work: important, provocative, and comprehensive.” — John Schaefer, WNYC New Sounds

The World and the Wild (The University of Arizona Press, 2001), looks at how the notion of "wilderness" can be useful in developing countries. Reviewers said: “One of the best environmental books of the year.” — Ron Mader, www.planeta.com

The New Earth Reader: The Best of Terra Nova (MIT Press, 2000), our first hardcover publication, among other things, was said to: “Fulfill the mission to seek unexpected ways to heal the split between nature and culture.” — Publisher’s Weekly

The exciting partnership between Terrain.org and Terra Nova fits wonderfully and results in tangible benefits for both publications. Terra Nova secures an online presence for itself and many of its outstanding contributions, including access to back issue information and ordering. Terrain.org reprints work from Terra Nova—some of the finest modern literary and technical work relating to natural environments.

Contributions to one publication may have the opportunity to be reprinted in the other. Look for some of Terra Nova's most intriguing works in Terrain.org. Get the details about submitting to Terra Nova on its website.

For additional information, contact David Rothenberg, Terra Nova Editor, at terranova@njit.edu.