Kathryn Aalto on her new book Writing Wild

Writer, garden designer, teacher – Kathryn Aalto wears many hats. She co-founded Rural Writing Institute (Lake District, England) with author James Rebanks, a retreat centre for writers that offers workshops led by noted writers and poets..Aalto’s last book – The Natural World of Winnie-the Pooh (2015), a New York Times bestseller – explored the magical world of Pooh bear and Christopher Robin while taking readers on a stroll through the 6,000 acres of Ashdown Forest (England)..Her new book Writing Wild brings together the past and the present with stories of women who cut their own paths while seeking Nature..In an exclusive email interview Aalto speaks about the Writing Wild experience..Excerpts:.It was an article in ‘Outside’ magazine that triggered this book. How did you plan this compilation of trailblazers?.In 2017, when ‘Outside’ re-published an article on Twitter entitled ‘25 Books all Well-Read Travellers Should Read,’ I noted that the article was outdated -written in 2003- and that 22 of the 25 books were by white men. They asked me to write a response to this article, and that article resulted in a fair amount of interest on social media. It also resulted in an invitation to write a book from my publisher, Timber Press..While researching I began to feel like a jeweler. I wanted to carve a multidimensional gemstone and illuminate as many voices as possible. I reached back two centuries and moved through time to arrive at significant contemporary nature writing by women..I begin with Dorothy Wordsworth, the sister of poet William Wordsworth who borrowed some of his sister’s writing without giving her credit. From there, I work through two centuries of American and British nature writing by women with 25 travel and nature essays and end with brilliant writer Elizabeth Rush. In between, I write about Susan Fenimore Cooper, Gene Stratton-Porter, Mary Austin, Rachel Carson and important black writers including Camille Dungy, Lauret Savoy and Carolyn Finney..Your research took you on walks, mountain climbing, biking and boat rides. What hurdles did you encounter?.No hurdles. I am a strong person and I like meeting people. I was taken on walks and hikes by people interested in the project and wanting to help me..After I taught at Rural Writing Institute I climbed Scafell Pike there. I flew to USA to explore Cooperstown, New York where Susan Fenimore Cooper lived..Not far from my home in Devon is Vita Sackville-West’s Sissinghurst Castle Garden. During a book tour in the US I managed to swing a weekend trip to Cape Cod, the place that inspired Mary Oliver..I travelled to Cairngorm Mountains (Scotland) to explore the landscape that inspired Nan Shepherd. I walked through Epping Forest (London) with writer Saci Lloyd. And, wrote about Rachel Carson from the warmth of my greenhouse. When I could not visit places that inspired the women, we corresponded by phone and email..What was your writing process like?.It took me a year to write the book, but I had already done background research by writing the piece for [another magazine]. The writing process was continuous for each essay as I shaped, changed and edited. I focused for a couple of weeks on each woman’s background but as I worked through them, I always returned to massage each essay so that they had equal weight and were well-balanced with research, first-person narration, writing excerpts, and a sense of adventure..What were the joys of writing this book?.Living with these writers over a long period of time were the joys of learning. I felt comfortable with the subject, my use of first-person narration, my physical confidence outdoors, and my dogged primary source research. I began to see myself on the continuum of female nature writers as well. It was admittedly difficult for me to shift from one writer to another as I had gotten to know each one of them well and I wanted to stay in a space with them a little longer before moving on..I have never more strongly felt the historical impact of the Scientific Revolution on our relationship with the natural world than I have in writing this book. I profile Carolyn Merchant who wrote one of the most important eco-feminist books, ‘The Death of Nature.’.As a mother of three I am cognizant of the fears many mothers experience: what kind of Earth are we passing onto them?