Held: Essays in Belonging

By Kathryn Nuernberger

From award-winning author Kathryn Nuernberger, Held is a collection of essays about mutualisms, mutual aid, and ways of being together in a time of climate crisis.

Here is a collection about living in and with the consequences of terrible mistakes--Held contemplates our collective experiences of loss in an age of climate change and mass extinctions, as well as more personal tragedies. Each essay in this book describes a remarkable instance of symbiotic mutualism: bobtail squid host glow-in-the-dark bacteria behind their eyes so they can camouflage with moonlight on the water; there is a surprisingly erotic encounter between ants and a rove beetle; beavers and willow trees together turn deserts to verdant wetlands; and many more. To read Held is to be reminded of one's humanity and of our interconnectedness with the world that surrounds us.

• Format: Paperback
• Language: English
• ISBN: 195604647X
• ISBN13: 9781956046472
• Release Date: November 2025
• Publisher: Sarabande Books
• Length: 204 Pages
• Weight: 0.26 lbs.
• Dimensions: 0.6" x 5.2" x 7.6"