Sparrow Envy

Nonfiction about cross-cultural experience in nature (like Braiding Sweetgrass, Ecology of a Cracker Childhood) has powerful sales appeal. As do “field guides” that provide more than just raw data. We view this as a kind of lyric field guide. In the vein of the Wildsam guides. Will be a beautiful hardcover, suitable for gift-giving. Author's viewpoint, as an ornithologist, a hunter, a professor, and a black man from the South is incredibly unique This is a mix of poetry and prose Author's writing has been featured in the New York Times, Orion, Audobon, and many other outlets. '9 Rules for the Black Birdwatcher' is Orion Magazine's most widely shared article The author is invited to numerous regional and national birding conferences every year The birding market is massive, including an estimated ten million self-proclaimed 'birders' that spend an estimated average of some 10 billion annually on their pursuit of birds Will include blurbs from Aimee Nezhukumatathil and Camille Dungy. Helen McDonald is an avid fan and supporter of Drew's work. Grapples with how a black man with binoculars might be percieved. How he might be seen as "trespassing" in places he doesn't belong