Stories and images exploring the more-than-human

Hi, I’m Matt Stansberry a storyteller at the intersection of natural history and imagination.

My most recent book, Rust Belt Arcana (with Illustrator David Wilson) was listed as one of the Nature Conservancy’s favorites of 2018.

Praise for Rust Belt Arcana:

“Read this book to discover the underlying reality of life in this place. Read it for the part of you that howls at the moon.”

-Cleveland Museum of Natural History

“Rust Belt Arcana is one of the most amazing tarot books I’ve ever read, unlike anything else, and instantly important.”

-Rachel Pollack, author of Seventy-Eight Degrees of Wisdom 

My writing is based on my encounters with wild creatures, through activities like hunting, fishing, hiking and conservation activism. I’ve written for publications like Belt Magazine, Zoomorphic, The Center for Humans and Nature and several hunting and fishing publications. I led a keynote panel at the Cleveland Museum’s Conservation Symposium in 2019 and you can find a transcript of that session here.

I live in the Haw River watershed in North Carolina with my family and I’m working on a project focused on the wildlife in this place.

If you want to stay up to date with new projects and adventures, check out the blog.

Also, you can buy art inspired by my study of wild creatures, wild places, myth and magic at my store.

I’m not consistent with social media at this point, but you can email me mattstansberry@gmail.com or you can follow me on iNaturalist to see what weird bugs I’m finding.