Since 2000, Douglas has been writing for a wide variety of print and online publications including literary journals, magazines, and newspapers. Throughout his work, he draws attention to people and places on the economic and environmental margins of societies around the world. Here are links to a sample of Douglas's essays, articles, commentary, and poems, as well as two interviews with him.
Essays
Letter to America | Terrain.org | November 23, 2017 A timely profile of an undocumented Wisconsin dairy worker.
El Rosario Road: The Spell of Ordinary Spectacle Broad Street | August 17, 2017 El Rosario Road isn’t paved. You won’t find it in a travel guide, though it connects nowheres everywhere. It’s the road every traveler seeks.
Storms Without Names
Boston Review | February 28, 2012
An on-the-ground view of climate change wreaking havoc for farmers and shantytowns in Central America.
Back Seat, Front Seat | Witness | Summer 2011
(Co-authored with Alisha Laramee)
A gender-bending visit to Jordan’s Baqa’a Palestinian refugee camp.
Does Vacation Make You Stupid? | Punctuate | July 1, 2016 A tongue-in-cheek portrait of Europe's Mediterranean vacationland, Mallorca.
Mango, Mango! A Family, a Fruit Stand,
and Survival on $4.50 a Day
Orion/Longreads.com | May/June & July/August 2014
One of the ten most popular Longreads Exclusives of 2014, this essay follows a street vendor named Dayani through a day in the life of Central America’s largest market, Managua’s Mercado Oriental.
The Lake at the Bottom of the Bottom
Virginia Quarterly Review | Summer 2011
The story of “the world’s largest sewage lake” and the international effort to clean it up.
Corn in Twenty-One Countries
Silk Road Review | Summer/Fall 2011
An Iowa boy’s quest to escape corn turns into fascination with finding it everywhere.
Articles
The Hope of Harvesting The Progressive | December 2018 At the epicenter for climate injustice, Nicaraguans plant solutions.
What Nicaragua Teaches Us about Climate Disasters NACA | September 2017 From increasingly frequent storms to food insecurity, Nicaragua has been hard-hit by the impacts of climate change. In the wake of Hurricanes Harvey and Irma, we can learn from their response.
Letter from Nicaragua | Orion Blog | November 14, 2014
A follow-up to “Mango, Mango!” about Managua’s Mercado Oriental.
What Fearlessness Looks Like The Progressive | October 2018 An analysis of Nicaragua's 2018 uprising and its causes and consequences.
A Peaceful Nicaraguan Election Brings a Mandate for Sandinista Social Programs
Upside Down World | November 10, 2011
An on-the-streets report from Nicaragua on Daniel Ortega’s 2011 presidential victory.
Learning to Live with Less | On Wisconsin | Winter 2005
A profile of Lynn Haanen, Director of The Mountain School, an innovative non-profit Spanish language school in rural Guatemala.
Commentary
Tackling Zika Requires Tackling Inequality Huffpost | March 4, 2016 Like dengue fever and chikungunya, Zika needs to be properly framed as a disease worsened by expanding cities and urban inequality.
Which Mob Are You In?
Common Dreams | March 14, 2011
How the 2011 Wisconsin uprising against Governor Scott Walker was about much more than unions.
Watching Scott Walker’s Wisconsin and Nicaragua Converge
Huffpost | September 16, 2015
As poverty grows in places like Wisconsin, poor communities around the world gain more in common with each other than they do with wealthy communities in their own countries, and vice versa.
Poetry
Corn Moon, Natural Medicine, Bats, Last Word
Terrain | October 1, 2012
Survey, The Last Day of Deer Season, and Resting Places Interdisciplinary Studies in Literature & Environment |
Winter 2008
Interviews
5(ish) Questions for Douglas Haynes and “Every Day We Live Is the Future” Nieman Storyboard | April 25, 2018 An in-depth interview with Douglas about the making of his book Every Day We Live Is the Future.
Truth Teller Spotlight: Douglas Haynes Medium | October 8, 2017 A candid interview with Douglas about the writing life.