Birmingham-area native Margaret Renkl ends long-running NYT column

Margaret Renkl, an Alabama-native author, ended her 9-year stint as a contributing opinion writer at the New York Times after publishing her final column in March.

The Auburn University grad’s work focuses largely on “our changing natural world,” according to her website. She was born in Andalusia and raised in Homewood.

Some of her published books include:

• “Leaf, Cloud, Crow: A Weekly Backyard Journal” (2024)
• “The Comfort of Crows: A Backyard Year” (2023)
  • A Reese’s Book Club pick and 2024 Southern Book Prize winner
• “Graceland, at Last: Notes on Hope and Heartache From the American South” (2021)
  • Winner of the 2022 PEN/Diamonstein-Spielvogel Award
• “Late Migrations: A Natural History of Love and Loss” (2019)
  • Winner of the 2020 Reed Environmental Writing Award
• “The Marigold Poems “(1993)

Margaret Renkl’s work at the New York Times

Renkl wrote her first piece for the New York Times in 2015 and was eventually invited to write as an opinion columnist in 2017.

At the time, the opinion department’s editors “urged [her] to use their megaphone to celebrate what [she] cares about most and to spotlight the injustices that break my heart,” she said in a Facebook announcement.

For those nine years as a Times writer, her work focused on the flora, fauna, politics and culture of the South.

“People say to me, ‘Don’t you ever worry about running out of ideas?’ and I say, ‘How could i ever run out of ideas?'”

Margaret Renkl

Much of her work surrounded observations on environmental stewardship, regional politics and the complexities of the human condition.

After her longtime editor was reassigned and her next editor left the paper 10 months later, she decided that her work was “no longer a good match for the Times,” she said on Facebook, due to how the world is changing.

“In a burning world like this, there is less and less room for the quiet voice of a generalist who dislikes arguments that land like a two-by-four across the brow. There is less room, too, for editors who encourage that kind of writing.”

Margaret Renkl via Facebook

Even so, she looks back fondly on her experiences at the New York Times, where she got to learn about a wide variety of subjects and meet inspiring people.

“For more than a decade I got the chance to write for the greatest newspaper in the world. I don’t think anyone could leave behind such a gift without some measure of grief, but I have not for one second regretted the decision. And that clarity is its own gift.”

Margaret Renkl via Facebook

Where to find Margaret Renkl’s other works

Even though she no longer writes for the Times, Renkl has a host of other work out there for all to enjoy.

Her most recent book, “The Weedy Garden,” was released earlier this year. Her debut picture book “invites readers to observe and wonder about the various inhabitants in the vibrant ecosystem of a wildlife-friendly backyard garden,” her website says. Her brother and frequent collaborator, Billy Renkl, is the book’s illustrator.

In addition to her published books, she said that she is currently concentrating on writing chapters for a book proposal. Renkl also has thoughts about one day returning to her opinion writing.

“Someday I may come back to this kind of work—through a newsletter, perhaps, or by way of some other media outlet—but for now I have a book to write and grandbabies to love on. That’s enough.”

Margaret Renkl via Facebook

Find Renkl on Instagram and Facebook, and learn more about her work on her website.

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