What’s a gyre?

The word ‘gyre’ has several meanings. In oceanography, it describes massive current systems that rotate through the world’s great oceans, moving clockwise in the Northern Hemisphere and counterclockwise in the Southern Hemisphere.

In the the more esoteric and specific usage of Irish poet W. B. Yeats, it refers to a pattern and thought-form of history and cultural development that informs much of the poet’s later work. He mentions it famously in his poem “The Second Coming.”

In a general sense, it’s a spiral or circular form that emerges and develops through time and space. I’m fascinated with all of the word’s connotations and find in it a powerful symbol for the immense and more-than-human forces at work in the universe.

What’s it all about?

For the better part of the past decade I’ve maintained several blogs while also writing for a variety of established publications. I’m planning to use this platform as a space to encompass different styles of writing with no real constraints on form or subject matter.

I enjoy writing everything from book reviews to long-form essays, and occasionally combining forms and mashing things up. I can’t promise what you’ll find in here, but I do hope you’ll find it interesting and worth your time to read.

Who am I?

I’m Matt Miles, an independent writer and journalist living in the mountains of western North Carolina on a 10-acre farmstead with my partner Tasha Greer. For almost seven years, we’ve worked to rehabilitate and regenerate a logged-over patch of land on the side of a mountain using techniques from permaculture and whole-systems agriculture among other disciplines.

My writing has appeared in print and online with the Dark Mountain Project, in Earth Island Journal, Hakai Magazine, Modern Farmer, Minding Nature and in the Lineages column of the Garrison Institute, among others.

I tend to write about the natural world, ecological and social justice, issues related to sustainability and local economies, and modern literature. I’m interested in many other things however—from systems theory and evolutionary biology, to building and working using traditional skills, to growing and preparing all kinds of food. I love spending time in the outdoors rock climbing, running long distances, and hiking. You may find me writing about any or all of these themes and interests here in The Gyre.

Get in touch

Why subscribe?

It’s completely free and you get an email with my latest writings when they publish. Every new edition of the newsletter goes directly to your inbox. If eventually you find value in what I’m doing in this space, you are welcome to take up a paid subscription, but I have no plans to limit my content at this point.

Subscribe to The Gyre

Free-floating commentary and musings from the currents of deep time to the flux of current events

People

Independent writer and journalist. Lover of nature and remote places. Degrowth advocate. Suffers from solastalgia.