Libby B Bushell is an author and wildlife guide, specializing in the Coastal Alaskan Brown Bear and the Emperor Penguin of Antarctica. She writes a biweekly column: Dispatch from Katmai for the Homer Independent Press.
Libby B’s essay, “Homage to a Halibut Eye” won the international Moth Nature Writing Prize in 2023, published in the Irish Times. Her recent essay, “Antarctic Hope” is featured in issue 167 of Backcountry Magazine, published in March, 2026. Read “The Augustine Dream,” published in issue 161 of Backcountry.
Libby is the founder of HoWL, a wilderness expedition camp for kids based out of Homer, Alaska. She serves on HoWL’s board of directors.
Her first novel, Salty, is about a woman on the brink of a psychological collapse, set amidst the catastrophic recession of Alaska’s glaciers in the early 21st century. She’s swiping on the dating apps but there’s a serial killer on Tinder. Salty explores themes of wilderness & technology, privilege & identity, feminism & the patriarchy, grief, trauma, love and family. The world is madness, and so is Salty.
Salty is currently out for query. Say hi.
-June, 2026