Award-winning leap into the wild

Dr. Joni Tevis 

For years, Alaska’s Arctic National Wildlife Refuge has been a lightning rod for controversy, pitting environmentalists against proponents of drilling for oil. Is the refuge a barren wasteland or a fragile ecosystem? Joni Tevis wanted to see for herself, which led to a 5,000-word essay in Orion magazine. That, in turn, led to Tevis receiving a Pushcart Prize, a major literary award which honors the best poetry, short fiction, essays and other works that appear in small presses during the previous year. Read more in The Greenville News.