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Essays of Water, Whales, and Women

MY
OCEANS


 

An urgent exploration of caring and mothering on a planet in crisis

In a swell of sea-linked essays, Christina Rivera explores the kinship between marine animals, humans, and Earth’s blue womb. Rivera’s investigative questions begin with the toxic burden of her body and spiral out—to a grieving orca, a hunted manta ray, a pregnant sea turtle, a spawning salmon, an “endling” porpoise, and the “mother culture” of sperm whales —as she redefines what it means to mother and defend a collective future.

Braiding memoir with embodied climate science, Rivera challenges that it’s not anthropomorphism to feel deep connection to non-human species and proposes that gathering in collective grief is essential amid the sixth mass extinction on Earth. 

For ecofeminists, fans of Terry Tempest Williams and Rachel Carson—and for anyone who feels themself disintegrate in the presence of the sea—My Oceans offers a timely and wondrous descent into the deep waters of interbeing in which we swim.

MY OCEANS includes the 2022 John Burrough’s Nature Essay Award winner as well as essays first published in Orion, Terrain.org, The Cut, The Kenyon Review, the Pushcart Prize Anthologies, Bat City Review, River Teeth’s Beautiful Things, Catapult, and more. 

Read Excerpts ⟶
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Rivera writes about climate science with such heart, beautifully capturing the full range of joy to despair that comes with inhabiting a body that relates so deeply to other bodies in a world on fire. Part meditation, part call-to-action, Rivera’s work is exquisitely moving; I would plunge into the depths any day with her as my guide.
Ash Trebisacci
Ash TrebisacciLitHub's 100 Notable Small Press Books of 2025
A "Best Debut We Read in 2025" and "so astute and moving."
Rachel León, Managing Director
Rachel León, Managing DirectorChicago Review of Books
“Honest and unflinching. But on this ocean planet, also healing.”
—Bill McKibben
—Bill McKibbenauthor of The End of Nature
“​A feminist manifesto as well as an environmental proclamation . . . Rivera sounds the siren about impending environmental collapse.”
Washington Independent Review of Book
Washington Independent Review of Book
“This collection is threaded with wonder, history, and heartache. In My Oceans, motherhood is not sentimentalized but shown as a transformative political power. Masterfully constructed and beautifully written, this book dwells in the depths—not only of oceans but of mourning, awe, anger, and action.”
—Beth Piatote
—Beth PiatoteNez Perce writer and author of The Beadworkers: Stories
"With great candor, anxiety, and awe, Rivera brings history and heartache as she explores early motherhood, ecofeminism, and both the science and moral crisis of climate change as it affects our oceans. With a warm and lyrical voice, these essays swim through outrage and mourning, but always remain buoyed by an abiding love."
KJY
KJYOrion Magazine
“The candor and compelling urgency of these essays are themselves a demonstration of the galvanizing force of a woman’s voice, and the possibility for profound change if you listen.”
—Kate Moses
—Kate Mosesauthor of Cakewalk, the prize-winning Wintering, and co-founder of Salon.com’s Mothers Who Think
“In every sentence of this wonder of a debut, the reader experiences the tidal pull of its prose and an agile voice traversing original landscapes both physical and psychological, both beautiful and harrowing.”
—Chris Dombrowski
—Chris Dombrowskiauthor of The River You Touch
“Rivera’s lyrical prose embraces the veracity of a researcher paired with the sensibility of a poet. I’ll return to My Oceans over and over to remind myself what matters most: compassion and the conviction that yes, this world not only must but can heal its wounds and evolve toward wholeness.”
—BK Loren
—BK Lorenaward-winning author of the novel Theft, and the essay collection Animal, Mineral, Radical.
Our judges called these essays "fresh, original, vibrant. The oceans within it haunting. Womanhood, motherhood, and the natural world seamlessly interwoven. A work of penetrating observation, both inward and outward. A book that offers no definitive answers but that asks all the right questions. Horrific, heartbreaking, rallying."
Judge Panel for the Gold Medal IPNE Award in Narrative Nonfiction
Judge Panel for the Gold Medal IPNE Award in Narrative NonfictionIPNE

ESSAYS & EXCERPTS

The Endling @ Orion Magazine
The 17th Day @ Terrain.org
Two Breaths @ The Kenyon Review
READ MORE ESSAYS & EXCERPTS ⟶

Get in Touch

Invite Christina to your class, conference, writing group, or book club. She loves the company of others obsessed with craft talk, whale song, and the ocean. 

Contact Christina ⟶
Goodreads Giveaway
GIVING AWAY 6 Copies of MY OCEANS
On JUNE 1st, 2025!

Winners get SIGNED & STAMPED books with whale-pun pencils like: “Dolphinately Not Crying” 

ENTER GIVEAWAY!