Terry Tempest Williams (b. 1955)

American poet, nature writer, and environmental activist. Born to a Mormon family in Corona, California, Williams grew up surrounded by the vast desert landscape of Utah; she holds degrees in both English and environmental education from the University of Utah. Her first book, Pieces of White Shell: A Journey to Navajoland (1984), is a personal exploration of Native American myths. Her much-reprinted essay, “The Clan of One-Breasted Women,” became the final section of the autobiographical Refuge: An Unnatural History of Family and Place (1991). Her subsequent books include An Unspoken Hunger: Stories from the Field (1994), Red: Passion and Patience in the Desert (2001), The Open Space of Democracy (2004), and Finding Beauty in a Broken World (2008). Williams is a frequent contributor to the New York Times, the New Yorker, and Orion Magazine. See also terrytempestwilliams.com.