Novella Carpenter

Novella Carpenter

Carpenter speaking at Hayward Public Library in October 2014
Occupation Journalist, Urban Farmer
Language English
Nationality U.S.
Genre Non-fiction
Notable works - Don't Jump! The Northwest Winter Blues Survival Guide (2002)
- Farm City: The Education of an Urban Farmer (2009)
- The Essential Urban Farmer (2011)
- Gone Feral: Tracking My Dad Through the Wild (2014)
Website
ghosttownfarm.wordpress.com

Novella Carpenter is the author of the 2009 memoir Farm City: The Education of an Urban Farmer. The book describes her extensive garden in Ghost Town, a run-down neighborhood about a mile from downtown Oakland, California.[1] Farm City was listed by some reviewers as one of the top books of 2009,[2][3] and it was the 2014 selection of the Marin County Free Library, City Public Libraries of Marin County and Dominican University of California "One Book One Marin" reading program.[4]

Carpenter studied biology and English at the University of Washington and graduated from the School of Journalism at the University of California, Berkeley where she studied with Michael Pollan.[5] She has written for Mother Jones, Salon and SF Gate. She is also the co-author (with Traci Vogel) of Don't Jump! The Northwest Winter Blues Survival Guide, published in 2002 by Sasquatch Books.[6] In March 2011, the City of Oakland told Carpenter she would have to close her Ghost Town Farm because she was selling excess produce without a permit.[7] In April 2011, after an extensive debate that prompted officials' review of the city's policies regarding urban farming,[8] Carpenter was granted a Minor Conditional Use Permit for her 4,500-square-foot urban residential plot, allowing her to keep more than 40 animals, including ducks, chickens, rabbits, pigs, and goats.[9]

Carpenter's "how-to" guide for urban farmers, The Essential Urban Farmer, co-authored with Willow Rosenthal, was released by Penguin Press on December 27, 2011.[10] A memoir, Gone Feral: Tracking My Dad Through the Wild, released on June 12, 2014, also by Penguin Press,[11][12] was selected as a Library Journal Best Book of 2014 and a Northern California Book Award Nominee for Best Creative Nonfiction of 2014.[13]

References

  1. Garner, Dwight (2009-06-12). "Living Off the Land, Surrounded by Asphalt". The New York Times.
  2. "Best Books of 2009: The Complete List". NPR. 2009-11-22. Retrieved 2010-09-11.
  3. "Dwight Garner's Top 10 Books of 2009 - The New York Times". Nytimes.com. 2010-09-05. Retrieved 2010-09-11.
  4. One Book One Marin: 2014 Selection: Farm City by Novella Carpenter, http://www.onebookonemarin.org/, accessed 2 May 2014.
  5. "Farm City, Novella Carpenter, (9781594202216) Hardcover - Barnes & Noble". Search.barnesandnoble.com. Retrieved 2011-04-01.
  6. Goodreads.com: Community Reviews: "Don't Jump!: The Northwest Winter Blues Survival Guide'", Seattle, Wash.: Sasquatch Books, 2002, ISBN 1-57061-266-8, http://www.goodreads.com/book/show/685542.Don_t_Jump_, accessed 5 Jan 2014.
  7. Kuruvila, Matthai (2011-03-31). "Oakland gardener questions need for permit to sell produce". Sfgate.com. Retrieved 2011-04-01.
  8. Matthai Kuruvila, Chronicle Staff Writer: "Oakland urban farming prompts plan to redo rules", The San Francisco Chronicle, http://www.sfgate.com/bayarea/article/Oakland-urban-farming-prompts-plan-to-redo-rules-2372083.php, Published 4:00 am, Sunday, May 8, 2011.
  9. James McWilliams: Backyard Butchery in the City, http://james-mcwilliams.com/?tag=novella-carpenter, June 7th, 2012.
  10. Goodreads.com: Community Reviews: The Essential Urban Farmer, Penguin Press, ISBN 978-0-14-311871-8, http://www.goodreads.com/book/show/12868467-the-essential-urban-farmer, accessed 5 Jan 2014.
  11. Mark Storer: "Author Novella Carpenter explains in Camarillo how she took up farming", Ventura County Star, http://www.vcstar.com/news/2013/mar/24/author-explains-how-she-took-up-farming/, posted March 24, 2013.
  12. Penguin Press: Summary of Gone Feral, release date June 12, 2014, 240 pp., ISBN 9781594204432, http://www.us.penguingroup.com/nf/Book/BookDisplay/1,,9781594204432,00.html, accessed 5 Jan 2014.
  13. Praise for Novella Carpenter's "Gone Feral", https://books.google.com/books?id=ckJJAgAAQBAJ&pg=PT1&lpg=PT1&dq=Novella+Carpenter+Gone+Feral+%22Library+Journal%22&source=bl&ots=6z_WDAWhAn&sig=dABA8OJtbglWxNnZ6srX1hBqM6U&hl=en&sa=X&ved=0ahUKEwik1emXwZDKAhVL7SYKHTPCCPMQ6AEIMTAD#v=onepage&q=Novella%20Carpenter%20Gone%20Feral%20%22Library%20Journal%22&f=false, accessed December 30, 2015.
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