Wendell Berry, writer and farmer, dies at 92

Wendell Berry, the influential poet, novelist, and farmer whose work championed agrarian life and criticized industrial agriculture, died on Monday, August 31, 2026, at his home in Port Royal, Kentucky. He was 92 years old. His death was confirmed by his daughter, Mary Berry. Berry was a towering figure in American letters, authoring more than 50 books of poetry, fiction, and essays over a career spanning more than six decades. His writing consistently argued that the health of human communities was inseparable from the health of the land. This central theme made him a seminal voice in environmental and agricultural thought, though his influence extended into religious, cultural, and political spheres. Born in Louisville, Kentucky, in 1934, Berry was raised in a farming family in Henry County. After earning degrees in English from the University of Kentucky and a fellowship at Stanford University, he briefly taught at New York University. However, in 1965, he returned to Kentucky with his wife, Tanya, and their children to farm the land his ancestors had worked since the early 19th century.