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Nonfiction books

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  • Landscaping for Wildlife: Essays on Our Changing Planet. Forthcoming 2026

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Selected essays

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  • "The Redoubtable Bull Shark." The American Scholar. 2024

  • "The Pollinator Garden." The London Reader. 2023

  • “The Gray Ghosts of Oahu.” Sporting Classics. 2023

  • “Chow-Chow-Cha!” Kitchen Work. 2023

  • “To Know a Place.” Big Sky Journal. 2022

  • “New Turnpike an Attack on Wildlife.” The Oklahoman. 2022

  • “The Essence of Home.” The Fourth River. 2022

  • “Fuller Brook Dreams.” Pittsburgh Quarterly. 2022

  • “Don’t Stand So Close To Me.” Blueline Magazine. 2022

  • “The Flavors of Home.” Catamaran Literary Reader. 2020

  • “Consider the Catfish.” Tulane Review. 2020

  • “The Net.” Critical Read. 2020

  • “Salmon on the Table.” Gastronomica. 2020

  • “A Taste of Home.” Traverse Magazine. 2020

  • “Answering the Humble Knock.” Harvard Divinity Bulletin. 2019

  • “A Street Photographer’s Guide to Havana.” Santa Clara Review. 2018

  • “Decoy." The Meadow. 2018*

  • “No Alterations.” The Lindenwood Review. 2018**

  • “The Decisive Moment.” New Mexico Review. 2018

  • “It Nourishes You.” Kestrel. 2017***

  • “A Very Special Fish.” Arkansas Review. 2017

  • “Oh, Give Me a Home…” The Smart Set. 2017

  • "The Solace of Flowing Water." Notre Dame Magazine. 2016

  • "How Millennials (Almost) Killed the Wine Cork." The Atlantic. 2016

  • "Enigmatic Frenchman." Sport Literate. 2016

  • "Carla Brings Me to My Census." The Christian Science Monitor. 2015

  • "Fires." Southwest Review. 2015

  • "Breathe." Los Angeles Review. 2015

  • "A Hand." Santa Clara Review. 2014

  • "Running as a Means to an End." Sport Literate. 2013

  • "Edmond, Oklahoma." Orion. 2013

  • "Last Light." Saw Palm. 2013

  • "Pie Transports Me." The Christian Science Monitor. 2013

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*     "Notable Essay": The Best American Essays and

                                     The Best American Sports Writing. 2019

**   Nominated for the Pushcart Prize. 2018

*** "Notable Essay": The Best American Essays. 2018

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Anthologized works

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  • “For the Love of Pie.” Flash Nonfiction Food. 2020

  • "Money Note." The Very Best of Big Table Publishing: Vol. II. 2019

  • Introduction. Illinois River Survey: A Visual Record. 2011

  • "Chance of Rain." Battle Runes: Writings on War. 2011

  • "Fresh Paint." Ain't Nobody That Can Sing Like Me. 2010

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Reporting

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  • "Western Rangeland Management." ASU Swette Center News. 2022

  • ​"Sunny City on the Southern Plains." Western Art & Architecture. 2022

  • "The Cross Timbers." American Forests. 2017

  • ​"5 Fabulous Bars in Oklahoma City." The Dallas Morning News. 2015

  • "Lonely at the Top." The Norman Transcript. 2004
     

​Other books

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  • Where East Meets West. 2020

  • The Sharks of Al Jubail. 2018

  • Wish You Were Here. 2016

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From airport birdwatching and getting lost in an urban forest, to rethinking society’s ill-fated war on wildlife and our struggle to reshape the American landscape, Red Dirt Country invites readers to savor the joys of our natural surroundings. Written by Oklahoma native John Gifford, this timely book is a literary meditation on the Oklahoma landscape and the rich biodiversity of the southern Great Plains.
Pecan America by John Gifford provides readers with a look at how the rising demand for pecans around the world is transforming the way this nut is grown, promoted, and consumed here in the United States. Along the way, Gifford explores its presence in American folk art and culture, documents the pecan industry’s quest for share of stomach in a market brimming with other tree nuts, examines the pecan’s surprising array of health benefits, and profiles some of the fascinating people who bring this food to our tables. In the end, Gifford reveals the pecan to be much more than a food, but also a cultural curiosity and even a metaphor for America itself, one whose diverse nature may be its greatest quality.
Small Stream Bass by John Gifford provides instruction, wisdom, and practical information for getting off the beaten path, exploring and enjoying America's small and overlooked bass streams. Bass are able to live in many streams that can't support trout. Gifford's book opens up a whole new world of fishing to the traditional trout fisherman. Drawing on years of experience, Gifford explains how to find, evaluate, and analyze a bass stream. The reader will learn how to assess a stream for its fishing potential, and about the habits of bass in such an environment. Gifford also addresses issues of equipment, lures, flies, and how to use them in both deep water and in flats and eddies. Small Stream Bass will give anglers the practical tools they need to get away from the maddening crowds of expensive boats and shoulder-to-shoulder fishing conditions to pursue the incredibly game largemouth, smallmouth, and spotted bass that inhabit many of America's streams.
Oklahoma Sportfishing by John Gifford is the first and only fishing guide to some 51 lake, reservoir, and stream destinations in Oklahoma. Gifford covers casting, fly fishing, and spin fishing in pursuit of 12 popular species of fish, including largemouth bass, smallmouth bass, striped bass, hybrid striped bass, trout, bluegill, catfish, and carp. The heart of the book is its descriptions of dozens of destinations―including directions, special fee or permit requirements, specific seasonal information, and other inside tips. Gifford, a veteran of 30 years of Oklahoma fishing, shares his intimate knowledge and tips for fishing a region where success can mean catching a trophy bass, or landing an elusive trout on a remote mountain stream.
In 2002, author, naturalist, and angler John Gifford kept a journal detailing his visits to Pennington Creek in southern Oklahoma, a spring-fed tributary of the Washita River and Lake Texoma, and one of the state's most endearing waterways. Where East Meets West is the result of these journal entries, which detail the stream and weather conditions, local flora and fauna, and other observations Gifford noted from season to season.

© 2025  by John Gifford

All rights reserved

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