Elizabeth Stromme's Underground Gardener

		AT LAST ! STROMME'S FICTION IS PUBLISHED IN HER OWN COUNTRY! "JOE'S WORD: AN ECHO PARK NOVEL" came out in October from City Lights Books. Her fiction has also been translated into French and published by Editions Gallimard and by the newspaper Le Monde. REVIEWS OF "JOE'S WORD" IN THE U.S.A., U.K., AND FRANCE, CLICK HERE FOR BOOK TOUR LOCATIONS AND DATES, CLICK HERE. WHERE TO FIND STROMME'S FICTION: Look for "Joe's Word" in English at your local, independent bookstore, at Barnes & Noble, Borders, or order directly from City Lights or Amazon. French translations of both novels can be ordered at Amazon.fr. WHAT EXACTLY IS A WRITER-FOR-HIRE ? For the short answer click here.

	AGAINST THE GRAIN/GANGRAINE. (Editions Gallimard, Serie Noire, 1994; re-issued in Folio Policier, 2002). A hard-boiled noir novel about seed savers, agribusiness and biodiversity, "Against the Grain" unearths a growing sub-culture and connects it to a world of institutionalized power. Excerpts, reviews, etc. click here.

	L'ECRIVAIN PUBLIC (FRENCH EDITION OF "JOE'S WORD" ) (Editions Gallimard, La Noire, 1999. In its second printing.) A writer-for-hire working in L.A.'s inner city finds his emotionally-distanced world jeopardized by a client's taste for mail-order brides. Reviews, etc. click here.

	THE BASEMENT/LA CAVE (Le Monde, August 19, 2000; republished in Le Bout du Monde, Editions Gallimard, Serie Noire 2001). An old, marginalized woman in the Malibu Hills has to fend for herself when her husband dies and leaves her broke. WARNING: You can't get darker, nor more underground. Complete text of the short story in French. Click here.

		Stromme's non-fiction has appeared in the U.S. in the Los Angeles Times, Buzz Magazine, Garden Design, Pacific Horticulture, The Southern California Gardener, the American Gardener and most recently, the Silver Lake Press (now known as the LA Alternative Press); and in France, in Libération and Les Inrockuptibles. Below is a sample of published and unpublished pieces.
SEEING RED In 1998 Stromme wrote a critique of artist Robert Irwin's Getty Center garden for Garden Design; here's the unabridged, more corrosive text that explores the dangers of conceptualizing nature, and being funded up the yin-yang. Click here.
THE COLOR OF MONEY In early 1994 Stromme took an oblique look at the booming gardening market -- and the powerful economic forces behind it -- by examining the pages of a representative gardening magazine. The article is still wildly relevant. It's never been published. Until now. Click here.
PAYDIRT Everyone's doing it: tearing out at least a part of the lawn and installing garden beds instead. But read this piece before digging in those sacks of commercial amendments. Is radium in them? A case is made for soil so good it can't be bought. Click here.
THE UNDERGROUND GARDENER MONTHLY COLUMN* JUICY GARDENS Succulents have sap, all right, but vitality is not the least of their charms. A little digging unearths the extent of their remarkable utility. Thumb-suckers, Malibu movie stars and the lovelorn, especially, take note. Click here. PREVIOUS COLUMNS : Click here. * Stromme no longer writes for the Silver Lake Press/LA Alternative Press.
		SKETCHES Stromme's been rambling since she was young, carrying sketchbooks and pencils from Baja to Afghanistan. On the road: Stromme's sketches of a recent trip to Italy have been published in the French newspaper Libération. Click here. When she's not on the road, she draws from her own backyard. Click here. SCRAPS Odds & ends Stromme has dug up from her personal life. Click here. Odds & ends from Stromme's political side. Click here.
		The Underground Gardener is not ready to commit yet to answering individual gardening questions, but would like to hear your comments and concerns.
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undergroundgardener.com © Copyright 1988-2004 Elizabeth Stromme. All rights reserved Last updated 04/14/2004