Littoral Cells and Literal Sells of the Atlantic

Chapter Five, “Littoral Cells and Literal Sells of the Atlantic,” explores erosion discourse about the Eastern Seaboard. The chapter frames this discussion using readings of Karenne Wood’s poetry. It continues by examining the history and literature of Shell Island, North Carolina, including its now-forgotten past as a site of Black leisure; Ellyn Bache’s short story “Shell Island”; and contemporary debates over beach nourishment. From there, the chapter analyzes debates over the relocation of Cape Hatteras Lighthouse, using Hugh Morton’s aerial photography to explore the bipartisan campaign to save the structure. The chapter closes by considering Tangier Island, bringing together John Smith’s seventeenth-century writings and Earl Swift’s work Chesapeake Requiem (2018). This collection of island texts illuminates how erosion anxiety related to the Atlantic Seaboard emerges from a resistance—born from settler colonial and capital development—to living with the fluidity the space demands.