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Monday, October 3, 2016
Why nature-writing is 'exploding'
'In stressed times, we can take comfort in wildlife': why nature-writing is 'exploding'
The shortlist for the Wainwright nature-writing prize’s third year is
announced as bookshops report dramatic rise in the genre’s sales.
Shepherd James Rebanks, who is also the author of bestseller The
Shepherd’s Life, pictured working on his farm at Matterdale End in
Cumbria.
Photograph: Christopher Thomond for the Guardian
Now
in its third year, the Wainwright nature-writing prize has announced
its shortlist, spotlighting what one judge called an “exploding” field,
as more and more writers and readers are turning to this genre as a balm
for the woes of modern life.
The contenders
range from James Rebanks’s The Shepherd’s Life, a firsthand account of a
way of life that has endured in the Lake District for centuries, to Amy
Liptrot’s acclaimed memoir about her return to the wilds of Orkney, The
Outrun. Dame Fiona Reynolds, who has been chair of judges for the
Wainwright prize since 2014, said that “what is coming out [in the
genre] is remarkable new writing”, as the titles join a busy corner of
the books market, where recent hits have include Helen Macdonald’s
memoir of grief and falconry, H is for Hawk and last year’s Wainwright
prize winner, John Lewis-Stempel’s Meadowland.
Country files: nature writers on the books that inspired them
“It
does seem to be exploding,” said Bill Lyons, executive producer of
Coast and Countryfile, and a Wainwright judge. “And it’s exploded in
many different directions - there’s the traditional offering, which
simply shows an admirable and wonderful expertise in natural history and
wildlife in its own right. Then there are writers who are delineating a
particular territory. Whether that’s simply writing about marshland, or
mountains, these people are plotting out particular patches of the
natural world. And then there’s the latest development, which I find
most interesting: we’re seeing an explosion of natural history writing
as meditation, as a sort of healing process, using the landscape as a
way of reflecting, often on childhood trauma, and using it as a way to
heal.”
Reynolds, who has previously run the National
Trust and the Council for the Protection of Rural England, agreed: “Even
in these three years there has been an absolute flood of books in which
writers are talking about nature and its meaning, and not just in a
superficial sense. These are profound books, about a deep relationship
and about the deeply spiritual questions which confront us in society.”
“[They show us that] there’s more to life than the economy, or foreign
policy – these writers are articulating beautifully the ways in which
the human spirit needs to connect with the world around us, and to
respect the world around us.”
Helen Macdonald: ‘I was feral, I identified with the hawk, took on her character’
Figures
from book sales monitor Nielsen Book show that sales in the “animal and
wildlife” category have increased dramatically, from 426,630 books in
2012, to 663,575 books in 2015. The Shepherd’s Life has sold more than 160,000 copies to date, while H is for Hawk’s sales top 250,000.
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Reynolds
revealed the six-strong shortlist for the £5,000 Wainwright prize on
Thursday morning. Launched by publisher Frances Lincoln in association
with the National Trust, the award goes to the title that best reflects
the values of fell walker and guidebook author Alfred Wainwright “of
inspiring people to explore the outdoors, whilst engendering a love of
landscape and respect for nature”.
Along with The Shepherd’s Life and The Outrun, the lineup this year also includes Robert Macfarlane’s meditation on words and landscape, Landmarks; Rob Cowen’s exploration of a square mile of woodland in Yorkshire, Common Ground; Katharine Norbury’s account of walking along Britain’s rivers, The Fish Ladder; and Michael McCarthy’s memoir of childhood trauma and defence of threatened nature, The Moth Snowstorm. The winner will be announced on 5 August.
“There
is a definite sense in which we are going through a period of
tumultuous change, even before the vote last week,” said Reynolds. “Our
landscape has never been more challenged by change and in very different
ways these books remind us of the important role the natural world
plays in our personal lives. Each book here provides a unique and
uplifting discovery of some aspect or part of the UK, while gifting us
with profound and moving experiences.”
Lyons agreed,
saying that the popularity of the genre “is speaking to the time we live
in – so many people lived stressed-out lives. We’re living in a public
world of private troubles which we find difficult to share … we can take
comfort in wildlife and landscape.”
Amy Liptrot, author of The Outrun, pictured in Orkney. Photograph: Rebecca Marr for the Observer
At Waterstones, nonfiction buyer Bea Carvalho said the bookseller had
“seen a real surge in the popularity of nature writing in the last
couple of years”. She cited The Shepherd’s Life, in which Rebanks writes
of a year in his life as a shepherd and how “you could bring a Viking
man to stand on our fell with me and he would understand what we were
doing and the basic pattern of our farming year”, as Waterstones’
“greatest hit” from the genre so far this year, along with
Lewis-Stempel’s The Running Hare, Charles Foster’s Being a Beast, and
Tristan Gooley’s “brilliant books on how to interpret one’s
surroundings”, How to Read Water and Walker’s Guide to Outdoor Clues and
Signs.
“Nature writing is a genre which lends itself well to thoughtful,
creative writing and beautiful design – a winning combination for
grabbing and holding on to people’s attention – and can offer escapism
or the welcome chance to take notice of our surroundings and see our
world through a different, more positive lens,” she said. “New
publishing in the genre continues to be extremely strong and we’re
looking forward to seeing what publishers have in store for 2017.”
