Christopher Brown

My new book A Natural History of Empty Lots is released today. I hope you like it—it distills 20 years of exploring the edgelands, working on rewilding projects, and trying to understand what such places teach us about our lives, history and future: hachettebookgroup.com/titles/christo…

I've always been a huge fan of back alleys, empty lots, old cars in overgrown fields, dens, desire paths, condemned buildings (don't do I what I do & go in these (asbestos/sepsis/roof collapse)), old canals & railways etc. this & great writing are & why I love these books:

The unstoppable @doctorow right now at First Light Books in Austin, presenting Picks & Shovels to the SRO @SXSW crowd:

Abandoned lots and the future? 🏚️🌱 @NB_chris book A Natural History of Empty Lots reveals the unexpected biodiversity, resilience & hidden ecosystems in urban spaces. Bonus: new sound by Cat Byrne, Clapton edgelands (i): catbyrne.com Tune in: shorturl.at/j0JGL

this is nice too HANG ON ST CHRISTOPHER is a best book of the month on amazon 🙂

@adrianmckinty Always amazing to read Bernal Diaz’s first person accounts of walking across the causeways into that city, and Cortés’ letters to the King describing its marvels: origin-rh.web.fordham.edu/Halsall/mod/15…

@NB_Chris when you go to Mexico City its weird to think that Tenochtitlan was an island in the middle of a vast lake I remember going to Trotsky's house and the guide saying that this neighbourhood was a port and fishing village on the lake...

Grackles, concrete, ancient oaks, true names of the Gulf, and Tropic of Kansas memories, in the latest Field Notes: fieldnotes.christopherbrown.com/p/jackdaws-fre…

George McFly Day! ...after a year of work, this is the day every writer looks forward to - the day your box of books arrives from the publisher DI Duffy #8, HANG ON ST CHRISTOPHER is in the world

In "From Vacant to Vital: Rethinking the Role of Empty Lots in North American Cities," Carmen Gilmore reflects on Christopher Brown's A Natural History of Empty Lots. niche-canada.org/2025/02/20/fro… #envhist #nathist #urbanstudies #urbanecology #yxe

Exploring the edgelands-Texas and beyond w/ @NB_Chris Thrilled to post this fascinating conversation on the overlooked margins of urban landscapes, urban rewilding, the resilience of nature & much more w/ readings from: A natural history of empty lots! shorturl.at/WlgdX

I had a blast talking with Fergal Byrne @sustain_agenda about Empty Lots, rewilding, and green futures: thesustainabilityagenda.com/podcast/episod…

Some Field Notes from a cold Lupercalia, with airport bird nests, post-industrial heronries, ruins of the twentieth century, dreams of rewilded futures, and an island getaway through the Bermuda Triangle with Henry Kissinger: fieldnotes.christopherbrown.com/p/nest-buildin…

The final paragraph of Christopher Brown’s ‘A Natural History of Empty Lots’: “Things that can be explained by science, but also understood by poets”. More of this kind of thinking, please! A beautiful book. #christopherbrown #nonfiction #environmentalwriting #poetry #science

Field Notes from the cold snap that precedes the inauguration, with celestial objects, underground queens, and Octavia Butler daydreams: fieldnotes.christopherbrown.com/p/flight-track…

Available today in the UK!

Look what has just arrived! I’ve had my beady eye on this one for a while. It’s only just come out in the UK. Very excited to dive in. #ChristopherBrown #NaturalHistoryofEmptyLots #hachette #nonfiction #environmentalwriting #memoir #nature #anthropocene

More Marty Hench from the unstoppable @doctorow—I’m in!

Delighted to be included in this amazing group of Austin folks 🙏

Field Notes from the holiday fortnight, with Chupacabra screams, horny foxes behind the factories, hungry hawks in empty lots, pagan fortune-telling as family fun, and bright-eyed Kindergarten bike rides through the ruins of the world we made: fieldnotes.christopherbrown.com/p/molybdomance…

re-read Tropic of Kansas to start the year & despite it all its closing still gets me

A Natural History of Empty Lots, Christopher Brown: “We tend to ignore the wild nature that lives in the city, right under our noses, integrated into the fabric of our everyday life.” christopherbrown.com/a-natural-hist…