Bruce Berger


Bruce Nicolas Berger is an American nonfiction writer, poet and pianist who lives in both Aspen, Colorado and Baja California Sur, Mexico. He is best known for a series of books exploring the intersections of nature and culture in desert environments. Berger's book The Telling Distance: Conversations with the American Desert won the 1990 Western States Book Award and the Colorado Book Award.

Life and education

Berger was born in Evanston, Illinois and grew up in suburban Chicago village of Kenilworth. He was the only child of Nancy Lander and Robert Oscar Berger, an accountant and Kenilworth's mayor. After public school he attended The Lawrenceville School. He graduated from Yale University in 1961 with a B.A. in English. Berger did graduate work at the University of California, Berkeley, but did not pursue a doctorate.

Career in music

Berger played piano professionally for three years in Spain, and more recently has played benefit classical recitals in Mexico. His years in Spain are the source of his memoir The End of the Sherry.

Essays, articles, and poetry

Berger's articles and essays have been published in a number of literary quarterlies. For three years he was a contributing editor at American Airlines' magazine, American Way. His visual projects in collaboration with photographer Miguel Ángel de la Cueva have appeared both in print and online.
Berger’s poems have been included in magazines, periodicals and anthologies in the United States, Scotland and India. He has published a poetry collection, Facing the Music. He is a three-time winner of the Colorado Authors' League Award for Poetry.

Environmental interests

Berger is actively involved in environmental issues and wildlife preservation. He is or has been a participant in the Southern Utah Wilderness Alliance, The Sierra Club, and The Glen Canyon Institute. For twenty years he was a board member of Niparajá, A. C. in Mexico.

Awards and Honors