Asta Bowen (born August 12, 1955), sometimes spelled Asta Bowen, is an

American American(s) may refer to: * American, something of, from, or related to the United States of America, commonly known as the "United States" or "America" ** Americans, citizens and nationals of the United States of America ** American ancestry, p ...

young adult In medicine and the social sciences, a young adult is generally a person in the years following adolescence, sometimes with some overlap. Definitions and opinions on what qualifies as a young adult vary, with works such as Erik Erikson's stages ...

writer. She's best known for her novel '' Wolf: The Journey Home''.

Biography

Bowen was born in Chicago to a family of Irish descent. She was raised in

Orland Park, Illinois Orland Park is a Village (United States)#Illinois, village in Cook County, Illinois, United States, with a small portion in Will County, Illinois, Will County. It is a suburb of Chicago. Per the 2020 United States census, 2020 census, Orland Park ...

. She published her first book, ''The Huckleberry Book'' in 1988. Nine years later, her best known work, '' Wolf: The Journey Home'' was published. From 1988 to 2001, she published a column in the ''

Seattle Post-Intelligencer The ''Seattle Post-Intelligencer'' (popularly known as the ''Seattle P-I'', the ''Post-Intelligencer'', or simply the ''P-I'') is an online newspaper and former print newspaper based in Seattle, Washington (state), Washington, United States. Th ...

''. She has also written for the ''

Salt Lake Tribune ''The Salt Lake Tribune'' is a newspaper published in the city of Salt Lake City, Utah. The ''Tribune'' is owned by The Salt Lake Tribune, Inc., a non-profit corporation. The newspaper's motto is "Utah's Independent Voice Since 1871." History ...

''. She now teaches composition in

Kalispell, Montana Kalispell (, Salish-Spokane-Kalispel language, Montana Salish: Ql̓ispé, Kutenai language: Kqayaqawakⱡuʔnam) is a city in Montana and the county seat of Flathead County, Montana, United States. The 2020 census put Kalispell's population at ...

and lives in

Somers, Montana Somers is an unincorporated community and census-designated place (CDP) in Flathead County, Montana, United States. The population was 1,049 at the 2020 census, nearly double from 556 in the 2000 census. History Great Northern Railway magn ...

The wolf myth

Bowen writes young-adult fiction, with a focus on the myth of the wolf. In ''Wolf: The Journey Home'', there is a scene where a wolf body allows to find the killer has been compared by American academic and professor S. K. Robisch to a real

poaching Poaching is the illegal hunting or capturing of wild animals, usually associated with land use rights. Poaching was once performed by impoverished peasants for subsistence purposes and to supplement meager diets. It was set against the huntin ...

in the

Yellowstone Park Yellowstone National Park is a List of national parks of the United States, national park of the United States located in the northwest corner of Wyoming, with small portions extending into Montana and Idaho. It was established by the 42nd U ...

, against one male of the Druids wolf pack, named from Druid Peak, the first reintroduced in this park in 1996, where the killer has been apprehended because he kept the head as a trophy. Robisch credits Bowen for her correct portrayal of the role of the den location, to raise the new litter. There is little

anthropomorphism Anthropomorphism is the attribution of human traits, emotions, or intentions to non-human entities. It is considered to be an innate tendency of human psychology. Personification is the related attribution of human form and characteristics t ...

in this novel except for giving the wolves names like Marth or Oldtooth. British historian Karen Jones, specialized in the history of the American West, environmental history and Animal Studies, stresses upon the importance of such works in the environmental values transmission. She notes works like 'Asta Bowen "contain descriptions of intelligent canine protagonists that countered the images of bestial excess in traditional Euro-American wolf tales.". Jones also notes, more strongly than Robisch the "humanistic traits" of the wolves: in ''Wolf: The Journey Home'', she sees Marta as an "

eco-feminist Ecofeminism integrates feminism and political ecology. Ecofeminist thinkers draw on the concept of gender to analyze relationships between humans and the natural world. The term was coined by the French writer Françoise d'Eaubonne in her 1974 ...

icon, a strong female character" and as "totem for positive

gender identity Gender identity is the personal sense of one's own gender. Gender identity can correlate with a person's assigned sex or can differ from it. In most individuals, the various biological determinants of sex are congruent and consistent with the in ...

". She compares the myth to the

Turner Turner may refer to: People and fictional characters * Turner (surname), a common surname, including a list of people and fictional characters with the name * Turner (given name), a list of people with the given name *One who uses a lathe for tur ...

's Frontier Thesis: "Bowen's fictionalised rendition of lupine restoration involved copious quantities of pain, struggle, and death. This was a damming verdict on Turnerian triumphalism. Here the wolf story showed a West not won but lost. In Bowen's work, the wolf emerged as a potent signifier of frontier guilt, an expression that also proved common in commentary on the wolf reintroduction programme in Yellowstone in the mid-1990s."

Work reception

Her first novel, ''Wolf: The Journey Home'', is well received and was nominated for the 2006 Teens' Top Ten award by the

American Library Association The American Library Association (ALA) is a nonprofit organization based in the United States that promotes libraries and library education internationally. It is the oldest and largest library association in the world. History 19th century ...

Bibliography

* ''The Huckleberry Book'' (1988) * '' Wolf: The Journey Home'' (1997)

References

External links

Official site
{{DEFAULTSORT:Bowen, Asta 20th-century American novelists 20th-century births 1955 births American young adult novelists American women novelists People from Orland Park, Illinois People from Flathead County, Montana Living people 20th-century American women writers American women columnists American women writers of young adult literature Novelists from Chicago 21st-century American women