Jeffrey Bilbro is an Associate Professor of English at Grove City College. He grew up in the mountainous state of Washington and earned his B.A. in Writing and Literature from George Fox University in Oregon and his Ph.D. in English from Baylor University. His books include Words for Conviviality: Media Technologies and Practices of Hope, Reading the Times: A Literary and Theological Inquiry into the News, Loving God’s Wildness: The Christian Roots of Ecological Ethics in American Literature, Wendell Berry and Higher Education: Cultivating Virtues of Place (written with Jack Baker), and Virtues of Renewal: Wendell Berry’s Sustainable Forms.
Jeffrey Bilbro
Articles by Jeffrey Bilbro
Luddite Teens, George MacDonald, and The Waste Land
“I’m a Stranger Here Myself.” FPR contributor Brian Kaller has a moving essay on returning to his hometown of Ferguson, Missouri for a few weeks this summer after being away…
Snowflakes, Wallace Stegner, and Brokenism
“No Snowflakes are the Same. These Stunning Close-up Photos are Proof.” Amudalat Ajasa explains how Jason Persoff captures amazing images of snowflakes and showcases some of his photos. If you’re…
Chickens, AI, and the Legal Conversation
“Daughter of Forgottonia.” Liz Schleicher describes a family rooted in a plot of land near where the Illinois River joins the Mississippi. Guided by a matriarch, they have lived well…
Payne Hollow, Camels, and Distributism
“Who's Preserving Harlan Hubbard's Beloved Payne Hollow?” Bob Hill writes a lovely account of the Hubbards’ remarkable life and explains the hopes of the recently formed nonprofit organization Payne Hollow…
Dorothy Day, Humility, and Ed McClanahan
“Will the Real Dorothy Day Please Stand Up?” In this review of D.L. Mayfield’s new biography of Dorothy Day, Myles Werntz offers a masterclass in how we ought to befriend…
Wendell Berry, Ronald Blythe, and Oat Milk
“One of Our Most Beloved Environmental Writers Has Taken a Surprising Turn.” I don’t think Berry’s new book is “seething with resentment,” but Daegan Miller’s thoughtful review of Need to…
Scale, Science, and Polarization
“The Fourth Revolution.” Paul Kingsnorth’s latest essay is, I believe, out from behind a paywall. As always, he’s worth reading—in this case, on the ways that local, human-scale approaches to…
Important Elections, Art Vandals, and Going Home
“This Is Not the Most Important Election of Our Lives.” Here in Pennsylvania, there’s a lot of talk about the upcoming election that will apparently decide “the future of democracy.”…
TikTok, Bees, and Lab-Grown Meat
“Will Lab-Grown Meat Save Us?” Elizabeth Wainwright reads environmentalist George Monbiot’s latest book and considers its arguments in the context of two local communities she knows well, one in Devon…
Barns, Screens, and Whisky
“American Barn.” In a marvelous essay, Joshua Mabie reflects on the iconic meaning of barns in America: “Attention to barns’ actual history as well as to their cultural value can…
Conference Videos, Jon Stewart, and Frodo
If you weren't able to join us two weeks ago for our conference, you may want to set aside some time to watch the video recordings of the talks. We'll…
Practicing Authentic Conversation
If I attempt to follow Berry’s underwater route too closely, I’m afraid I will drown. Rather than try to summarize it, then, I will instead distill from it a set…
Conference Recap, Chess, and the Waste Land
The FPR conference this weekend was a great delight. The only problem is that I wanted to have long conversations with everyone who came. I was mollified, however, by seeing…
Lippmann, Property, and Swamp People
“Labor, Land, and Racism.” Brian Volck reviews Berry’s new book, which comes out next month: “For Berry, there are no autonomous people and no isolated social problems. Thus, while acknowledging…
Mourning, Coffeehouses, and Water
“The Work of Mourning.” Roger Scruton probes the necessity and value of mourning with his characteristic range and insight: “Until the work of mourning has been accomplished, Freud argued, new…
Property, Work, and Hillbilly Thomists
Have you registered for our fall conference taking place in two weeks at Grove City College? Registration closes on the 17th, so don't delay! We haven't held a conference since…
Love, Landmarks, and Chestnuts
“Can Love Take Sides?” The new issue of Plough is full of worthwhile essays, but Porchers will want to start with this essay by Wendell Berry. It’s an excerpt from…
Expertise, Facebook, and Friendship
“The Good Death in Psalm 73.” Timothy Kleiser draws out the wisdom regarding mortality and human finitude in Margaret Edson’s moving play Wit with the help of Psalm 73. “Can…
Compliance, Bourbon Tourism, and Sequoias
“No More 'Normal.' How to Live after the COVID Apocalypse.” I reflect on the themes of our upcoming conference and Chris Arnade’s book in an opinion piece for the Pittsburgh…
Rare Earths, Canning, and Exhaustion
“David McCullough, Master Chronicler of American History, Dies at 89.” Glenn Rifkin remembers a remarkable storyteller who made forgotten aspects of American history come to life: “Working for much of…
Leftovers, Dumb Phones, and Waiting Tables
“Hoping for Doomsday.” I’ve been savoring the summer issue of Plough. Peter Mommsen’s opening editorial is, as usual, excellent: “In the interim of the ages, as the universe’s great Sabbath…
Illich, Finitude, and Authority
“The Corruption of the Best: On Ivan Illich.” Geoff Shullenberger takes the occasion of David Cayley’s intellectual biography of Ivan Illich to offer a reassessment of Illich’s thought. In particular,…
Sympathy, Weeds, and Brutal Friends
“How Foreign Private Equity Hooked New England’s Fishing Industry.” Will Sennott has an in-depth report on the ways the local owners and fishermen in New England are increasingly squeezed out…
Journalism, Poetry, and Play
“A Way of Life Being Lost.” Ruth Conniff visits Henry County, KY to talk with Wendell Berry and Mary Berry about rural America, the work of the Berry Center, and…