Diane Ackerman

The Zookeeper's Wife, a War Story

The Zookeeper's Wife is about one of the most successful hideouts of World War II. It's a tale of people, animals, transcendence, and subversive acts of compassion.

ORION MAGAZINE ANNOUNCES THE WINNER
OF THE 2008 ORION BOOK AWARD

Diane Ackerman's The Zookeeper's Wife: A War Story (W. W. Norton) has been selected to receive the 2008 Orion Book Award, which is conferred annually to a book that deepens our connection to the natural world, presents new ideas about our relationship with nature, and achieves excellence in writing.

"The Zookeepers Wife is a groundbreaking work of nonfiction,"saidselection committee member Mark Kurlansky, "in which the human relationship to nature is explored in an absolutely original way through looking at the Holocaust." Kathleen Dean Moore, the committee's chairperson, said: "A few years ago, 'nature' writers were asking themselves, How can a book be at the same time a work of art, an act of conscientious objection to the destruction of the world, and an affirmation of hope and human decency? The Zookeeper's Wife answers this question."


Nonfiction
DAWN LIGHT: Dancing with Cranes and Other Ways To Greet the Day
The healing power of nature in troubled times
Non-fiction
AN ALCHEMY OF MIND
A poetic exploration of the mysteries of the brain and the marvel of the mind.
CULTIVATING DELIGHT
A natural history of the garden, by an intellectual sensualist. “An enchanting book.”
--New York Times Book Review
Poetry
ORIGAMI BRIDGES: Poems of Psychoanalysis and Fire
Masterfully crafted poems with an unusual focus. “...she is positively incandescent.”
--Booklist
Children's Literature
ANIMAL SENSE
A delightfully witty collection of poems showing how the senses enrich the experiences of all living beings.