Denali Book of Hours

A Denali Book of Hours is a lavishly illustrated meditation on wilderness by artist and writer Emily Jan. Part field-journal and part essay, it is set against the spectacular backdrop of Denali National Park, where Jan was an Artist in Residence during the summer of 2016.

In June of 2016, Emily Jan had the opportunity to live and work in one of the last great American wildernesses as an Artist in Residence at Denali National Park; this book is a product of that residency. It was written, illustrated, and designed by Jan over the course of one year, between Alaska and Montreal, Quebec.

Loosely based upon the Liturgy of the Hours, the narrative is at once linear (east to west along the park road), sinusoidal (low elevation to high elevation to low elevation again) and circular (following the orbit of the summer solstice sun).

At its heart, the book is a celebration of both the wild and the familiar – the belief being that we protect what we love, and at this moment in history, wilderness deserves both our love and our protection more than ever before.