Phil Reed Writing Award

The Southern Environmental Law Center was proud to host H. Emerson "Chip" Blake - Orion magazine Editor-in-Chief and long-time Reed Award judge - at the Virginia Festival of the Book on March 28, 2008.

As SELC's featured guest speaker, Chip presented a thought-provoking talk, entitled "From Inspiration to Action," in which he explored how art, especially writing, evokes the passions about a place or an issue that impel us to action to protect the environment.

During Orion magazine's 25-year run, it has featured work by Bill McKibben, Rick Bass, Barry Lopez, Terry Tempest Williams, Wendell Berry, E.O. Wilson, Jane Goodall, Al Gore, Mary Oliver, Gary Snyder, Pattiann Rogers, and many, many other outstanding writers, journalists and poets. It is, says McKibben, "the leading forum for environmental writing in the United States."

Chip has been the principal steward of Orion’s success. He started with the magazine in the early 1990s, serving as Managing Editor for 10 years until 2003, when he became editor of Milkweed Editions, the nation's largest independent nonprofit book publisher. He returned to Orion two years later as the magazine’s Editor-in-Chief, and as Executive Director of Orion's parent organization, The Orion Society.

Click here to see posters pairing short excerpts from selected Reed Award winners with photographs from around the region.