Seeds of Diaspora

Seeds of Diaspora edited by Lynnette Widder and Wendy S. Walters, traces the intertwined histories of humans and plants as they unfold amid radical cultural and climatic change. Through an exceptional collection of literary, visual, and research-based essays, the book explores how seeds—and the lives they contain—bear witness to migration, resilience, and transformation.

From post-war landscapes reclaimed by spontaneous plant life to the mythic travels of fruit trees across continents, from seeds embedded in glacial ice to those carried along routes of labor and exile, Seeds of Diaspora reimagines the map of human settlement as a living “route of roots.” The contributors—writers, artists, and researchers from architecture, ecology, anthropology, and the humanities—invite readers to see the built and natural worlds as coevolving fields of meaning.

At once poetic and scholarly, the book asks how plants and people sense, shape, and sustain one another in an age of environmental upheaval. It offers not only stories and images of deep connection, but also a vision for future practices—where architecture, art, and ecology meet to cultivate new forms of understanding.

Seeds of Diaspora is as much at home in an urban garden as on an architect’s desk—a vital, beautifully conceived anthology for readers who seek to rethink our shared planetary ground.

With contributions by Anelise Chen, Lucas Mertehikian, Naeem Mohaiemen, Dorothy M. Peteet with Thad Russell, Darby Minow Smith, Owen Taylor, Fern Thompsett, Sam Van Aken, Wendy S. Walters, and Lynnette Widder.