A new anthology, “Working the Land, Working the Sea,” will uplift diverse voices tied to Cascadia’s farming, fishing and restoration traditions.
Empty Bowl Press, a publisher rooted in environmental and place-based literature, is celebrating its 50th anniversary with a new anthology that invites voices from the land and sea.
Founded in 1976 and now based in Chimacum on the Olympic Peninsula, Empty Bowl will publish “Working the Land, Working the Sea” in 2026, an edition that builds on the legacy of its 1986 publication “Working the Woods, Working the Sea.” The upcoming anthology will feature poetry and creative nonfiction submissions from those who work in farming, fishing, forestry, restoration and other land and sea-based occupations in the Cascadia bioregion.
“The mission is exploring the connection between human communities and wild places,” said Empty Bowl’s co-publisher, Holly Hughes. “Empty Bowl has had a long and rich heritage, so it’s an honor to carry it forward.”
Hughes and her husband, John Pierce, took over as co-publishers of Empty Bowl Press in 2022, bringing the press back to the Olympic Peninsula where it originated. A poet and creative writing teacher at Edmonds College, Hughes also spent eight years as a commercial fisher in Alaska, an experience that fuels her deep connection to salmon, writing and the environment.
Hughes said shifting the title from “Working the Woods” to “Working the Land” reflects a natural evolution toward inclusion and diversity. For this upcoming addition, her aim is to gather voices from those who have been working the land for generations, younger perspectives, Indigenous communities and people dedicated to restoration.
Guest editors for the anthology, both based in Bow, are Jessica Gigot, a poet, writer and farmer, and Tele Aadsen, a lifelong commercial fisher and author of “What Water Holds.”
Gigot, the author of “A Little Bit of Land” and “Feeding Hour,” said she’s excited to amplify voices often underrepresented in conversations around land work. She brings years of experience farming across the San Juan Islands and Western Washington, and she wants to help bridge the gap between consumers and producers.
“While there’s been this large increase in awareness about farms and farm systems, there’s still this large gap between the people who do the work and grow the food and the consumer,” Gigot said. “I personally don’t know a lot about fisheries, so I love that Holly and John paired me up with Tele.”
To not overly edit another writer’s voice and style, Gigot encourages specificity in submissions and welcomes both poetry and prose. While looking for clean, finished pieces; she said that the goal is to create an anthology that is meaningful to both contributors and readers.
“I want to put out an anthology that is a good experience for the reader, but I also feel very passionate about making sure we have a pretty wide range of voices that are represented,” Gigot said. “I really want people to dive into their own experience. I think sometimes people don’t realize how much they know, and writing can be a great way to reflect on that subject.”
For Aadsen, a writer and salmon fisher with over 40 years of experience on the water, the anthology is a space to reveal the invisible networks that support food systems, from fishers to tugboat crews to freezer van drivers.
“I can go out this salmon season regardless, but if the folks working the tugs and barges and freezer vans aren’t available to get those fish south from Alaska, I don’t have any paycheck,” she said. “People won’t have the salmon I promised them.”
Aadsen, above all, seeks authenticity. “I’m less interested in somebody who feels really solid in their literary qualifications and more somebody who knows why they feel the pull of going back out to sea every season,” she said. “We can work with people on the honing of the piece if they establish the heart and the meaning of it.”
Both editors intend to remain open to how the anthology shapes itself based on the submissions they receive.
Hughes noted how much has changed since she first began fishing, reflecting in both land work and writing. “When I started fishing back in the 1970s, there were very few women. And now, there are so many more women. It’s very different from what it was, and that’s worth celebrating.”
Hughes believes the real magic happens when these words are shared aloud.
“For me, it doesn’t feel real until I’m at the first reading and I hear the words going out into the airwaves and I see people sitting in the audience and responding,” she said. “The words are meant to be heard.”
Gigot will host a free online workshop on June 8 at 7 p.m. covering editing, structure and submission tips. Interested participants can register by emailing jessicagigot@gmail.com. Full submission guidelines can be found online.
— By Neisha Gaskins