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—ARIZONA DAILY SUN
In the wake of his river–running mother's death, Zak Podmore explores the healing power of wild places through a lens of grief and regeneration. Visceral, first–person narratives include a canoe crossing of the Colorado River delta during a rare release of water, a kayak sprint down a flash–flooding Little Colorado River, and a packraft trip on the Elwha River in Washington through the largest dam removal project in history.
Award–winning journalist and film producer ZAK PODMORE covers conservation issues, outdoor sports, and Utah politics. He is a Report for America fellow at the Salt Lake Tribune and editor–at–large for Canoe & Kayak magazine. His work appears in Outside, High Country News, Four Corners Free Press, and the Huffington Post. He lives in Bluff, Utah.
—ARIZONA DAILY SUN
"Deeply researched and deeply personal…Podmore's grief and his love of the landscape run through the book, lyrical and raw.”
—PACIFIC STANDARD
"An introspective journey that strikes an exquisite, subtle balance between empirical realities and vigorous philosophical questioning."
—THE UTAH REVIEW
"Podmore's writing is as personal as it is hard–hitting, leaving an impact with its thoughtfulness and depth of reporting.”
—CANOE & KAYAK
"These essays combine an adventurer's soul with a philosopher's head. Kudos to Zak Podmore, a fresh new voice from the West."
—PHILIP CONNORS, author of A Song for the River
"Zak Podmore has written a book of promise: a promise that beauty matters; a promise that history lives through us; a promise that the Colorado River teaches us about life and death and the depth of both."
—TERRY TEMPEST WILLIAMS, author of Erosion
"An ambitious, adventurous ride. The words themselves move like rivers—from choked, bucking rapids to languid flat water, to eddies swirling with uncomfortable truths… Zak Podmore has unleashed the kind of storytelling that will inspire the next great wave of ecological activism—and not a moment too soon."
—AMY IRVINE, author of Desert Cabal
"The publication of Confluence marks the arrival of an important new voice in the West."
—DAVID GESSNER, author of All the Wild that Remains
Zak Podmore is a Utah-based writer, film producer, and editor who covers conservation issues and Utah politics. He is a Report for America fellow at the Salt Lake Tribune, editor-at-large for Canoe & Kayak, and editor of the Canyon Echo: A Journal of Southeast Utah. He has written for Outside, Sierra, High Country News, Four Corners Free Press, High Desert Journal, and the Huffington Post. His films have been selected for the Wild & Scenic Film Festival, the Vancouver International Mountain Film Festival, and the Colorado Environmental Film Festival, and his magazine writing won a 2018 Folio Eddie Award.