Brent Martin is a conservationist and writer whose work has been deeply influenced by the 18th-century naturalist William Bartram.
Brent lives in Macon County, where his work has long been rooted in the landscapes of Western North Carolina. Until recently, he served as executive director of the Blue Ridge Bartram Trail Conservancy, a nonprofit that maintains 112 miles of the Bartram Trail through North Carolina and Georgia.
Bartram was a naturalist, writer and explorer who traveled extensively through the American Southeast in the 1770s, documenting its plants, wildlife, landscapes, and people. His observations became the basis for “Bartram’s Travels.” Published in 1791, it’s a detailed account of the natural and cultural world he encountered along the way.
Brent’s latest book, “William Bartram and the Nature that Could Have Been,” draws directly from his longtime interest in Bartram. It’s due out this October from Mercer University Press.
Brent is also the author of “The Changing Blue Ridge Mountains” and a hiking guide to the Bartram Trail. In 2022, his book “George Masa’s Wild Vision” won the Thomas Wolfe Memorial Literary Award, and Brent has also served as the Gilbert-Chappell Distinguished Poet for the western region of North Carolina.
Later this month, Brent is helping lead Spotfin, a two-day gathering that brings together writers, artists, naturalists and makers at the Cowee School Arts and Heritage Center, a former public school in Macon County that has been transformed into a home for arts, nature, and community.
In this episode, Brent discusses his new book, including what it was like to write directly to Bartram and to wrestle with both the world he documented and the complicated legacy he left behind. We also talk about Spotfin, and what comes next for Brent now that he has retired from the Bartram Trail Conservancy and is preparing to wind down Alarka Expeditions, a nature-based touring company he has run with his wife, Angela-Faye Martin.
LISTEN + DOWNLOAD
APPLE PODCASTS
SPOTIFY
AMAZON MUSIC
“William Bartram and the Nature that Could Have Been”
Buy the book via Mercer University Press
Catch Brent at book release parties at Outdoor 76 in Franklin on Oct. 9 at 6:30 p.m. or at City Lights Bookstore in Sylva on Oct. 10 at 3 p.m.
Spotfin
Learn more at coweeschool.org/spotfin
Theme Music
The song “Goa” was written by Lyndsay Pruett and performed by the Jon Stickley Trio.