The thalweg is the deepest part of a canyon. It is the primary navigable channel of a waterway, a boundary between two formations where the current is the strongest.
The Thalweg exists to support the creating and sharing of creative work in rural, agricultural, outdoor, and wilderness-based communities. It is a space where the voices of guides, fisherman, hunters, sailors, rangers, firefighters, educators, land stewards, farmers, ecologists, environmental scientists, and others come together to explore the strange and beautiful ways they metabolize the wild landscapes where they live and work.
Each issue features a collection of written and visual work from 8 to 15 contributors. Our current issue is available as a limited print run. Once we sell through print copies, past issues can be browsed in our online archive.
We are committed to pay all of our artists and writers for their work. We offer the print publication on a sliding scale, donation basis. Pay what you can, anything helps support our contributions.
Above all else, our mission is to offer creative opportunities, community, and exposure to creative writers and visual artists who live and work in rural or wild landscapes.
Behind The Thalweg
Seneca Kristjonsdottir
Founding Editor, Administrative Manager
Favorite things: Dogs. Waves. Snacks. Steven Universe. Holding her breath underwater. Bugs. Jim Henson puppet characters. A good pair of overalls. Boats. Being close enough to a bike there. Film photography.
Seneca (she/they) works seasonally as many things. Most often she is a guide on the Salmon and Snake rivers in Idaho, and in Arizona’s Grand Canyon. Other times she works as a seamstress, soft goods designer, beekeeper, bartender, or lab manager. In between, she is the founding editor of this small creative publication called The Thalweg (wink wink). Seneca studied ecology and bee husbandry at Goddard College, which led her to pursue work and a life that is forever seeking to understand the balance between human and natural systems. She measures her life in quality of time spent and has found fresh air to be the cure for most hard times. On her best days, Seneca is with loved ones on a river, by the ocean, in a canyon, or attempting to climb rocks. She hopes that The Thalweg can be a space to share strange and beautiful things, where marginalized voices can be heard, and where our ideals of nature can be contemplated.
Seneca edits, organizes contributors, dreams of possibilities, and balances the administrative needs of The Thalweg
Dory Athey
Founding Editor, Managing Editor
Favorite things: Space. Boats. Rocks. Dogs with jobs. Science fiction. Deserts. Mentorship. Charming jokes. Mountain biking. Bagels. Workers’ rights. Puzzles. Sports montages. Hawks. Juniper trees. Rivers. Also, dogs without jobs.
Dory (she/her) hails from a family of river guides and grew up in the whitewater of the American West. She has an M.A. in Book Publishing and spent her early career shepherding books into the world working for independent presses. In 2020, she co-founded The Thalweg.
In the summer, she moonlights as a whitewater guide on the Snake and Salmon Rivers in the Frank Church Wilderness of Idaho.
She is a part-time librarian and a communications/publishing consultant working mostly with nonprofits. She lives in Western Montana.
Dory edits, designs, manages production, and sets the visual direction for The Thalweg.
This partnership allows us to receive tax deductible donations and apply for grant funding under their 501(c)(3) non profit status.
*Fiscal sponsorship is a mechanism that allows a tax-exempt, 501(c)(3) organization (the sponsor) to support and protect another group (the sponsored partner).