Off Izaak Walton Road

The Grace That Comes Through Loss

Published by UNM Press
Distributed by Simon & Schuster

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About The Book

Loss and sorrow can overwhelm even the strongest person, forcing them to reckon with their emotions whether they want to or not. In this extraordinary debut, Laura Julier recounts her reckoning, which took place in an old cabin tucked away on a hidden and forgotten gravel road along the Iowa River. In company with silence and snow, with eagles, owls, and a host of other birds, Julier finds solace and begins to emerge from the dark corners of grief. Over time, she comes to understand she cannot bury grief or turn aside from loss but must walk in its presence, awake and humble, until, at last, she finds her own wholeness within it.

About The Author

Laura Julier is the former editor of Fourth Genre. She is the coeditor of Nonfiction, the Teaching of Writing, and the Influence of Richard Lloyd-Jones. She currently works as a hospital chaplain and lives in Iowa City.

Product Details

  • Publisher: UNM Press (March 4, 2025)
  • Length: 272 pages
  • ISBN13: 9780826367716

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Raves and Reviews

"Laura Julier has provided us not only with a profound demonstration of how to love a place, but also unique insight into how that love serves, supports and clarifies the complexities of the human heart and soul."

– Thomas Dean, Little Village

“Laura Julier in Off Izaak Walton Road marks out the perimeter of the losses in her life, not by confiding them to the page but by careful indirection. She brings the reader with her as she retreats to a house on a rural road and season by season discovers the particulars of the world that goes on without all of us. Her power of attention is formidable, and her prose is at every point lucid.”—Sven Birkerts, author of The Miro Worm and the Mysteries of Writing

Off Izaak Walton Road asks us why some places hold a grip on our imaginations, what it is about these places that allows us to be more fully ourselves, and how these places change the stories we tell about who we are and the world in which we live. Written with clarity, candor, and a tenderness of attention that is profoundly moving, this book shows the often-transformative power of loss, solace, and joy.”—Lacy M. Johnson, author of The Reckoning: Essays

Off Izaak Walton Road asks us why some places hold a grip on our imaginations, what it is about these places that allows us to be more fully ourselves, and how these places change the stories we tell about who we are and the world in which we live. Written with clarity, candor, and a tenderness of attention that is profoundly moving, this book shows the often-transformative power of loss, solace, and joy.”—Lacy M. Johnson, author of The Reckoning: Essays

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More books in this series: River Teeth Literary Nonfiction Prize Series

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