ABSTRACT
A n .accomplished essayist, fiction writer, and poet since themld-1950s, Wendell Berry has explored one central theme in virtually all his writing, regardless of the genre: the interconnectedness of nature and culture, particularly as manifested in agriculture. Berry's poetry has attracted a loyal readership since the late 1960s and has garnered critical attention since the early 1970s. The emergence of ecocriticism in the 1990s strengthened Berry's literary standing. Although a friend of several Beat writers, Berry rejected the Beat movement's emphasis on stylistic experimentation, intellectual esotericism, and individualism. Some critics have compared Berry's poetry to that of Gary Snyder, who has similarly championed community and who has likewise explored the interrelationship between humans and the natural world. Berry's worldview, however, has remained for the most part solidly grounded in Western cultural tradition; he has not embraced Eastern philosophies as fully as Snyder.
