Writing Wild: Women Poets, Ramblers, and Mavericks Who Shape How We See the Natural World

by Kathryn Aalto

Overview

"Re-centers and gives voice to a diversity of women naturalists and writers across time." —Cultivating Place

In Writing Wild, Kathryn Aalto celebrates 25 women whose influential writing helps deepen our connection to and understanding of the natural world. These inspiring wordsmiths are scholars, spiritual seekers, conservationists, scientists, novelists, and explorers. They defy easy categorization, yet they all share a bold authenticity that makes their work both distinct and universal. Part travel essay, literary biography, and cultural history, Writing Wild ventures into the landscapes and lives of extraordinary writers and encourages a new generation of women to pick up their pens, head outdoors, and start writing wild.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9781604699272
Publisher:	Timber Press, Incorporated
Publication date:	06/23/2020
Pages:	288
Sales rank:	431,155
Product dimensions:	6.00(w) x 7.90(h) x 0.80(d)

About the Author

Kathryn Aalto is an American landscape designer, historian, writer, and lecturer living in Exeter, England. She has master’s degrees in garden history and creative nonfiction with a particular interest in literary landscapes. Before her expat life, she taught American Literature of Nature and Place in the Pacific Northwest. She is a member of the Association for the Study of Literature and the Environment, the Garden Writers Association, and the Garden History Society. Her website is kathrynaalto.com.

Editorial Reviews

"What a joy to travel these paths alongside Kathryn Aalto and such fierce, trailblazing, and perceptive women." —Sarah L. Kaufman, Pulitzer Prize-winning Washington Post critic and author of The Art of Grace

“An impassioned and illuminating anthology that serves as an act of recovery and discovery, a personal celebration, and a timely reminder of the wealth and sheer power of women’s voices.” —Rob Cowen, author of Common Ground
 
“Kathryn Aalto brilliantly braids engaging personal narrative with accessible literary biography, to take readers on an inspiring pilgrimage.” —Michael P. Branch, author of Rants from the Hill and How to Cuss in Western

“An amazing, rich resource that rises above visions of conquest and domination to reveal the possibility of meeting eye-to-eye with wildness, and of being broken open and changed.” —Foreword

“This book is a wonderful jumping-off point for anyone who loves the outdoors and wants to know more about the many talented female writers who have made it their work’s focus.” —BookPage

“A fantastic resource for readers looking to grow their TBR piles.” —The Los Angeles Times

“Exciting, inspiring, intimidating, and bold.” —San Francisco Book Review
 
“A luminous collection of mini-biographies of female nature writers past and present. Beautifully illustrated by Gisela Goppel, Aalto's book champions historical figures like Rachel Carson and Vita Sackville-West, and contemporary writers like Rebecca Solnit and Robin Wall Kimmerer. She makes a point of including Indigenous and Black female authors, ending each chapter with a list of (even) further reading to explore.” —Shelf Awareness

“A heartening book, granting attention to women who dared to write and ramble wild.” —BBC Countryfile

"This fine and thoughtful book puts these remarkable women writers right smack bang in to focus where they belong—as key shapers of how we see the natural world.” —James Rebanks, author of The Shepherd's Life

“Writing Wild is an illuminating examination of voices often pushed to the side, challenging the canon of nature writing as it stands. It’s a book I’ll keep on the shelf—I’m certain I’ll return to it often.” —Buzzfeed Books

“Writing Wild re-centers and gives voice to a diversity of women naturalists and writers across time. It charts often un-heard women’s voices in naturalist writing–from long-dead women such as Dorothy Wordsworth and Gene Stratton Porter to more contemporary voices such as Gretel Ehrlich, Leslie Marmon Silko, Lauret Savoy, and Camille Dungy.” —Cultivating Place
 
“Writing Wild celebrates 25 women who opened the door to the outside and led readers through it.” —The Jefferson Exchange

“A succinct introduction to women nature writers, this elegant compilation should have a broad reach and inspire readers to seek out more about the authors featured… Aalto writes in an easy, friendly style that makes readers feel as if they are walking the paths of these women with her.” —Library Journal

“A great bibliographic source of the works by women that have written about nature.” —The New Jersey Mycological Association

“Writing Wild celebrates women who did not let gender inhibit them. With Nature being an intrinsic part in their lives, this is a fascinating read.” —Friday Magazine

“A fresh perspective on connecting with and understanding the natural world. So many (s)heroes.” —The Seattle Times

From the Publisher

04/01/2020

Having read an article in Outside magazine listing "essential" books for explorers, historian and landscape designer Aalto noted 22 of the 25 contributors were white men. In a letter to the publication's editor, which became this book, the author presented 25 female naturalists, authors, and thinkers, briefly describing their lives and quoting their work. Here, she presents the women's impressions, amending each section with a list of writers with similar interests in other areas for a fuller bibliography. Aalto writes in an easy, friendly style that makes readers feel as if they are walking the paths of these women with her. She offers casual descriptions of familiar writers, such as Annie Dillard, like a teacher refreshing a past lesson, along with interesting tidbits to keep readers motivated to continue. While this is a wonderful celebration of female nature writers, the list is still predominantly white and American or European, something the author acknowledges. Readers might find it confusing when there is no date or place attributed to a particular piece, or when a section focuses more on the writer's work but leaves out essential biographical details. VERDICT As a succinct introduction to women nature writers, this elegant compilation should have a broad reach and inspire readers to seek out more about the authors featured.—Elissa Cooper, Helen Plum Memorial Lib., Lombard, IL

Library Journal