Duet, PRISM International

by Isaac Yuen

I’m happy to have a new piece of short fiction titled “Duet”, out in the “Swan Song”-themed issue of PRISM International, Western Canada’s oldest literary magazine. The original spark for the story came during my time as writer-in-residence at the Hanse-Wissenshaftskolleg Institute for Advanced Study in Northern Germany, where I stumbled across an article of a paleontologist who spoke to the specimens she was...

October 24, 2025

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Fiction, Publication, Short Stories
The E.O. Wilson Biodiversity Foundation, A Conversation

by Isaac Yuen

It’s back-to-school season again, and perhaps the perfect time to share this conversation I had with Dennis Liu, VP of Education at the E.O. Wilson Biodiversity Foundation on how curiosity, creativity, and the exploration of science can help shape our individual and collective engagement with the natural world. A bit about the Foundation: The E.O. Wilson Biodiversity Foundation was established in 2005 to honor Dr. Edward...

September 4, 2025

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Personal
Tales of the Post-Post-Apocalyptic, Public Books

by Isaac Yuen

I’m happy to have contributed a new essay to the “No Future Lexicon” series commissioned over at Public Books, “a magazine of ideas, art, and scholarship,” with Matthew Wolf-Meyer as series editor. The initial genesis of this collaboration came from a study group convened by Annette Leibing and Mark Schweda at the Hanse-Wissenschaftskolleg (HWK) Institute for Advanced Study over in Northern Germany, where I...

July 22, 2025

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Publication
Utter, Earth Turns One! An Interview at The Burning Hearth

by Isaac Yuen

On the first anniversary of Utter, Earth’s publication, I had the pleasure of chatting with writer and interviewer Constance Malloy over at The Burning Hearth. Here’s an excerpt from one of our many conversation threads: “…I think our present preoccupation should be one of defiant endurance. To hold fast. To defy the narratives imposed upon us, and insist on narratives of our own forging,...

April 1, 2025

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Entries, Publication
Becoming Nature Podcast: Episode Fire

by Isaac Yuen

I’m excited to share this latest conversation I had with Carina Lyall and Rina Garcia Chua over at Becoming Nature, a podcast hosted by Lyall reflecting on “nature and the unfolding of life in the modern world.” This particular episode revolving around the element of fire is the first in a series in collaboration with The Center for Humans and Nature, highlighting the recently...

March 28, 2025

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Entries
The Art of Resistance From The Non-Human World

by Isaac Yuen

“Any human power can be resisted and changed by human beings. Resistance and change often begin in art, and very often in our art—the art of words.” National Book Awards speech excerpt, © 2014 Ursula K. Le Guin I’ve been thinking about the whole speech of late, especially the last line. I’ve been thinking about how words alone have been failing me and so many others...

March 6, 2025

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Art, Personal
The Sturgeon’s Dream: A Libretto on the Baltic Sea

by Isaac Yuen

Excited to have a new work, this time a libretto, featured over at the always excellent Center for Humans and Nature. “The Sturgeon’s Dream” is a translated German libretto I co-authored with my partner Michaela Vieser; the five-act piece seeks to highlight the life and history of the Baltic sea through a series of human and non-human voices. Spanning geologic, seasonal, and cultural time,...

May 17, 2024

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Fiction, Publication
Imaginary Worlds Podcast: Miyazaki Imagines an Environment

by Isaac Yuen

Happy to have had an opportunity to chat about the fantastical worlds of Hayao Miyazaki on Imaginary Worlds, a podcast series hosted by Eric Molinsky on science fiction, fantasy, and other genres of speculative fiction: “Environmental stewardship has been a consistent theme throughout his work, from My Neighbor Totoro to Spirited Away to Princess Mononoke. But what exactly has he been saying all...

April 27, 2023

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Personal
The Willowherb Review: El Lugar de Los Sueños

by Isaac Yuen

I’m pleased to have a new essay out in the latest issue of The Willowherb Review, a publication celebrating nature writing from emerging and established writers of colour: “Why ‘Willowherb’? Chamaenerion angustifolium, commonly known as rosebay willowherb or fireweed, is a plant that thrives on disturbed ground. Its seeds do well when transported to new and difficult terrain, so some—not us—may call it a weed.” ...

August 26, 2020

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Non-fiction, Publication
Lammergeier, Journeys to Earthsea

by Isaac Yuen

Thrilled that my newest personal essay has found a home in the debut issue of Lammergeier, a literary publication named after one of the coolest birds around: “Lammergeier, as with so many artistic visions, starts with a bird. Lammergeiers eat almost exclusively bones. Using its large, powerful wings, the lammergeier drops bones from the great heights to crack them open and access the marrow...

March 15, 2019

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Non-fiction, Publication

A School is a Type of Shoal, wildness journal

Published by Isaac Yuen

My latest essay is part of issue 30 of wildness, a UK-based online journal featuring work from both established and emerging writers that embraces the mysteries of the self...

August 25, 2022

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Featured Ekostories, Publication

A Hearth is a Kind of Home, Pleiades: Literature in Context

Published by Isaac Yuen

Happy to have another nature essay published, this time in the spring 2022 issue of Pleiades, “a literary biannual featuring poetry, fiction, essays, and reviews by authors from around...

June 1, 2022

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Featured Ekostories, Publication

The Perfect Party Guest, Center for Humans and Nature

Published by Isaac Yuen

Delighted to share that I have an essay published by the Center for Humans and Nature, “a nonprofit organization, publisher, forum, and place to explore, connect, and nurture our...

April 27, 2022

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Entries, Featured Ekostories, Publication

Yes, You can Leave The Hospital Without Naming Your Baby

Published by Isaac Yuen

Some publication news: I’m super honoured to have a piece of creative nonfiction up at the latest issue of The Willowherb Review, a fantastic UK-based publication focused on providing...

September 1, 2021

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Featured Ekostories, Non-fiction, Publication

Second Best is Best, Gulf Coast Online

Published by Isaac Yuen

I’m particularly excited to announce that a new essay published online over at Gulf Coast, a journal co-founded by one of my favourite writers, Donald Barthelme. “Second Best is...

February 15, 2021

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Featured Ekostories, Non-fiction, Publication

Life Lessons from the Odd and Ancient, The Hopper

Published by Isaac Yuen

Pleased to have a new natural history essay up at The Hopper, an environmental literary magazine from Green Writers Press. The germ of this came about when I was...

June 29, 2019

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Featured Ekostories, Non-fiction, Publication

The Ecological Imagination of Hayao Miyazaki, Orion Magazine

by Isaac Yuen

It’s not every day that you get to work on a dream project with a dream publication. I’m excited to share that I have a new piece up online at Orion magazine, exploring the ecological imagination of Hayao Miyazaki. Where the word for forest is silence A tree and troll to watch over me Carrying on through a wayward world Reading the wind, mending the earth An introduction to the work of the venerated Japanese animator and filmmaker (who happened to turn 80 this year), the piece is also a retrospective on four movies dearest to my heart: Princess Mononoke, My Neighbour Totoro, Spirited Away, and Nausicaa of the Valley of the Wind. Miyazaki tales were major sources of inspiration for me starting Ekostories—you can read everything I’ve written over the years in the archives HERE. And when you’re done, don’t forget to check out the rest of Orion’s latest issue (and hopefully subscribe!) It’s seriously fantastic both in terms of production value and in-depth content that explores the connections between people and nature....

The Cost of Change: Star Trek Deep Space Nine’s Progress

by Isaac Yuen

“This may be the last time we’re all together. But no matter what the future holds, no matter how far we travel, a part of us – a very important part – will always remain here, on Deep Space Nine.” – DS9’s finale, What You Leave Behind Star Trek: Deep Space Nine’s finale aired 17 years ago, and as much as the new films have brought the public back to the classic science fiction franchise, Star Trek always worked best for me on the small screen, telling human stories through actors with rubber prostheses attached to their faces. I miss that type of Trek, the tales it told. Deep Space Nine is my favourite Trek. While other shows in the franchise featured starships flying around the galaxy in search of new life and civilizations, DS9 stayed put, concerning itself with the day-to-day happenings of its sprawling cast living within its constructed universe. Onboard this ramshackle space station situated near Bajor, an alien world emerging from decades of brutal occupation, actions have weight, carry short and long-term...

Of Myths and Metaphors: Star Trek TNG’s Darmok

by Isaac Yuen

Several weeks past, I attended a workshop on the use of storytelling for effective social engagement. Sitting at my table was a doctoral student interested in better ways to communicate concepts of ecological economics to the public. As we chatted about the various metaphors embedded within conventional economics, particularly around growth and development, I started thinking about stories that focus on the challenge of communication and the power of metaphor. Searching my mind for examples, I found myself returning once more to the television series Star Trek: The Next Generation for inspiration, this time to an episode titled Darmok.

Star Trek’s Finest Hour: The Inner Light

by Isaac Yuen

Star Trek: The Next Generation was one of the first western television shows I recalled watching. As a kid, I didn’t understand why people were dressed up in primary colour uniforms or what they talked about, but it all sounded very interesting and important. As my English comprehension skills improved, it grew to become one of my favourite shows and provided my first exposure to science fiction. Many people who dismiss science fiction tend to think it begins and ends with rocketships and warp drives, along with the implication that to escape from the real world is essentially a childish impulse. But many of the best sci-fi stories are able to use the metaphors of the genre as unique vehicles to deliver insight into the human condition: “Science fiction is metaphor. What sets it apart from older forms of fiction seems to be its use of new metaphors, drawn from certain great dominants of our contemporary life – science, all the sciences, and technology, and the relativistic and the historical outlook, among them.” -Introduction...

Other Titles by Isaac Yuen:

Utter, Earth: Advice on Living in a More-than-Human World

Part nature guide, part self-help column, and all love letter to the more-than-human world, Utter, Earth is an exercise in wonder. For animal lovers and readers of Brian Doyle, Amy Leach, and Annie Dillard.

“Essays that—in their curiosity, play, and care— aim to weave us back into a world of which we are but one small part.”

—David Naimon, host of Tin House's Between the Covers

“Utter, Earth leaps, ranges, delves—or should I say rabbits, antelopes, and elephant seals? Isaac Yuen’s playful, precise book will delight biologist and linguaphile alike.”

—Elizabeth Bradfield, coeditor of Cascadia Field Guide: Art, Ecology, Poetry

“In Utter, Earth, animals and language are alive: rollicking, wild, enthralling. Yuen writes with so much enchantment and humour, this is a book that will upend how you see the natural world—and our own place in it.”

—Jessica J. Lee, author of Dispersals: On Plants, Borders, and Belonging

Ekostories by Isaac Yuen

Nature | Culture | Art

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Duet, PRISM International

The E.O. Wilson Biodiversity Foundation, A Conversation

Tales of the Post-Post-Apocalyptic, Public Books

Utter, Earth Turns One! An Interview at The Burning Hearth

Becoming Nature Podcast: Episode Fire

The Art of Resistance From The Non-Human World

The Sturgeon’s Dream: A Libretto on the Baltic Sea

Imaginary Worlds Podcast: Miyazaki Imagines an Environment

The Willowherb Review: El Lugar de Los Sueños

Lammergeier, Journeys to Earthsea