Paula Whyman is the author of Bad Naturalist (Timber Press/Hachette Book Group, 2025) and a finalist for the 2026 Philip D. Reed Environmental Writing Award selected by the Southern Environmental Law Center (SELC). Bad Naturalist has been named a finalist for the Library of Virginia 2026 People’s Choice Award in Nonfiction.
Paula's writing has appeared in The Washington Post and The American Scholar, and in journals including McSweeney’s Quarterly, Virginia Quarterly Review, Ploughshares, and The Hudson Review. Her earlier book, You May See a Stranger, is an award-winning linked short story collection. She has been awarded residencies by Yaddo, VCCA, The Studios of Key West, and Oak Spring Garden Foundation. Her work on Bad Naturalist was supported in part by the Maryland State Arts Council. She spends her time on a mountain in Virginia with her husband and a mercurial standard poodle. You can find her at paulawhyman.com, and keep up with news from the mountain via her Bad Naturalist newsletter.
