Kristi Quillen

Kristi developed her interest in living slower and closer to the land as a Peace Corps volunteer in rural Costa Rica. Moving there from the more hectic routines of Houston, Texas, she enjoyed afternoons of making yogurt or broth from scratch or scrubbing and hanging laundry on the line in between rain showers. Throughout her time in Costa Rica and travels in Nicaragua, she saw many examples of people building their own homes, growing an abundance of food on small plots of land, and calling up passed-down natural remedies. She observed people gathering on porches in the evening and the effects of deforestation when she stepped outside each day. Her experiences inspired her to live in community and more sustainably when she returned to the United States.

Before joining MOTHER EARTH NEWS as an editor, Kristi worked as a high school English teacher, teacher trainer and mentor. She majored in English and minored in sociology at Trinity University in San Antonio, Texas, where she was editor of the campus newspaper. She lived for a year in London, earning a master’s degree in European studies and stalking old haunts of her favorite authors. She traveled to Europe many times in subsequent years, even chaperoning student trips to Italy and Greece.

Besides traveling whenever she gets the chance, Kristi enjoys writing poetry and essays, mostly about culture, environment, and our relationship to nature and the land. She spends time browsing used book stores, doing yoga, being near water, and creating new dishes with whatever colorful, fresh food she finds at a farmers market.