Dear IAJS Community,
I am writing to share an idea for a new book series I have in mind and to ask for your input and suggestions for it.
For the last few years I have very much wanted to publish through Spring Journal Books a book series on the theme of Nature & Psyche, where environmental issues are considered from a depth psychological perspective.
Already, a few years ago, I edited a 2-volume set on Psyche and Nature in Spring Journal, and last year, Spring published a journal issue on Minding the Animal Psyche. These volumes were received enthusiastically and both underscored a hunger for intelligent,thought-provoking integration of psyche and nature inside the depth community and outside in environmental sciences and related fields. Our relationship with Other Nature may be the single most pressing issue of our time.
For these reasons, I would like to greatly further Spring’s publication output in these areas by creating a separate book series on the theme of Nature & Psyche. The idea would be for Spring to collect book proposals and then select one book for publication each year on the topic. The author would be selected by an editorial advisory committee with expertise in these fields and me, as publisher of the Series.. I would also serve as the Series Editor, again with signficant input from the adivsory committee.
Each author would then be invited to New Orleans, where Spring is located, to present lectures over the course of a weekend in March based upon his/her new book. The first lecture would be on a Friday night at a special venue in New Orleans, with another lecture or 2 to follow Saturday morning
On Saturday afternoon, breakout sessions or even more informal discussions among the participants would be held in which participants could interact with one another and share their own ideas on environment concerns, perhaps expanding and strengthening the depth psychology community that is especially interested in these issues. and bringing depth psychology to a broader community.
Following these events during the day on Saturday, my husband Glenn and I would host a party at our boathouse, located in New Orleans on Lake Pontchartrain. This party could be somewhat like a Nature-Psyche salon event, or, more in keeping with New Orleans, a more decadent affair!
On Sunday, we will organize boating outings to see the Louisiana wetlands, birds , and other sites of interest from the water as well as landbased tours of wildlife sanctuaries and those areas of New Orleans that are under construction, renovation, and renewal since Hurricane Katrina. It is part of our concept that New Orleans would form a central place-based locus for this work. Given Hurriance Katrina, the BP oil spill and its aftermath, coupled with the fact the Spring has now returned home to New Orleans after a 5-year “wander”, it seems important for this event to based here, and Spring would like to share with you its hometown and surrounds.
I would very much appreciate any feedback you might like to share with me as to whether you think this is a good idea, suggestions for authors ,–especially if you know any authors currently working on book-length projects in these areas of interest (including yourselves, perhaps!)—, and suggestions for who might be best to serve on an editorial advisory committee to help select the manuscript that will be published each year in book form and provide further counsel to me in editing the books in the Series.
I am really excited about this idea, and hope you will be too.
I look forward to hearing from you, if you are interested in this project, and in having your input in figuring out how to move forward in initiating this project. It would, in fact, be great to inaugurate this new happening in March of 2012.
Warmly,
Nancy Cater
Nancy Cater, J.D., Ph.D.
Editor, Spring: A Journal of Archetype and Culture
Publisher: Spring Journal Books
nancy_sjb@yahoo.com
www.springournalandbooks.com