Campfire Stories Volume II: Tales from America’s National Parks and Trails

• Features stories from Grand Canyon, Everglades, Olympic, Glacier, and Joshua Tree National Parks and the Appalachian and Pacific Crest National Scenic Trails
• Includes a diverse range of writers

Inspired by America's beloved national parks, Campfire Stories Volume II is a collection of modern prose, poetry, folklore, and more, featuring commissioned, new, and existing works from a diverse group of writers who share a deep appreciation of the natural world. While the original Campfire Stories captured many historic tales reflecting the first 100 years of the National Park Service, this completely new collection, focused on five different parks (plus two long-distance trails), depicts the parks as we know and experience them today.

Contributors represent a range of rich and diverse voices, including from the BIPOC and LGBTQ+ communities. Award winners such as Lauret Savoy, Rae DelBianco, and Terry Tempest Williams; newer voices including Derick Lugo, Rosette Royale, and Ed Bok Lee; and even a poet laureate, Rena Priest--all share their unique perspectives on our national parks and trails. These new campfire stories revel in each park's distinct landscape and imaginatively transport the reader to the warm edge of a campfire ring.

Dave Kyu is a socially engaged artist, writer, and arts administrator. Born in Seoul, South Korea and raised in the United States, he explores the creative tensions of identity, community, and public space in his work. They live with their two daughters outside of Philadelphia and are always seeking adventure and connection in the outdoors. Visit the Kyus online at campfirestories.com.

Ilyssa Kyu is a design researcher focused on storytelling and creative solutions at the intersection of nature, design, and inclusion and the founder of Amble, a sabbatical program for creative professionals to take time away with purpose in support of nature conservancies. Visit the Kyus online at campfirestories.com.

Review Quotes:

"A thoughtful, varied collection of writing."--Jaime Herndon, BookRiot

"A lively, thought-provoking collection of essays and poems that represent diverse perspectives on national parks and trails."--Kristen Rabe, Foreword Reviews

"Certain to have an immense appeal for readers with an interest in travel writing and outdoor adventures. A fun and informative read from cover to cover, Campfire Stories Volume II is an extraordinary anthology."--Midwest Book Review

"A must inclusion for your camping trips or for just enjoying nature."--Aron Row, Manhattan Book Review

"The layout is great, the art is wonderful, very cohesive throughout. I really can't recommend it enough."--Scott Cowan, Exploring Washington State Podcast

"This volume brings together nature writing at its finest.... These stories will indeed make for fascinating campfire entertainment, but they will also leave their readers lying in their tent, contemplating big issues and the part they play in their unfolding."--Marc Beaudin, Big Sky Journal

"A rich collection, looking at national parks from many worldviews, and not glossing over the historical and systemic issues embedded in the park system."--Matthew L. Miller, The Nature Conservancy's Cool Green Science

"Both witty and tender.... Choosing and editing their writers, introducing these parks and trails, the Kyus are so at home with each other and the reader, so personable and warm with their words, that already I welcome the travel book they will themselves write one day."--Elissa Ely, Appalachia

"Give yourself the gift of delving into these stories. Immerse yourself in a gorgeous panoply of experiences from people who love, and let themselves be changed by, America's wild places."--Allison De Jong, Montana Naturalist

"These 'campfire stories' remind us what a treasure we have in our National Parks. And the diversity of the voices showcased by the editors, along with an appendix of community organizations that support each of these parks, show that these wild areas are not just about scenery, but about people."--Laurence Marschall, Natural History

"Ilyssa and Dave Kyu are proving that campfire stories can contain happy endings, speak to important issues, and center the perspectives of BIPOC and LGBTQIA+ people with their Campfire Stories II: Tales from America's National Parks and Trails."--Joanna Kresge, 425 Magazine