The outdoors bring me inner peace and joy.
I am a fan of reading women's voices.

So it's no surprise that I was delighted by this one. So much so, in fact, that I ended purchasing a copy for myself!

This is a wonderful book for an overview on Women Natural History Authors. The author presents short snippets of their writings, a biography and other writers who wrote about similar topics. Some will be familiar and some deserve to be discovered again. It makes a great starting point to read more by and about these women. Enjoy

This was absolutely brilliant and such an enjoyable read. I am a fan of nature writing, but had always felt that it seemed to be quite dominated by white male voices, and having access to this book is so much like having access to a beautiful reading list to work my way through. Whilst I have read a couple of these writers' works, it is only a very small amount, and I am planning to go to this book often and choose something new to read whenever I need to - which will probably be often.

Being serious, this book is just fantastic. The mix of bios and excerpts of different writers, mixed with Kathryn Aalto's own little memoir-ish pieces and nature writing, and then with the addition of Gisela Goppel's artwork! Gorgeous, and made me feel hopeful for the diversity of voices in nature writing. Cannot recommend this enough.

Writing Wild was a lovely book and a pleasure to explore through. I did not know many of these female writers who were showcased in this book; they were envrironmentalists, science writers, nature writers, and just reading through their work gave me respect for what they did. It took me a long time to read, but once I got started I enjoyed it very much. The editor did a great job of highlighting what mattered to these women, and what still does matter now.

Outstanding. The notes at the end of each biography are well researched. My TBR pile has doubled in size since reading this book. I appreciate the broad perspective. Female naturalists on both sides of the Northern Atlantic are covered. Perhaps a sequel would be female naturalists from the Southern Hemisphere. I really enjoyed this book.

This is an excellent guide to a wide variety of women who wrote about the environment from all different backgrounds and genres. It does tend towards a rather academic or scholarly tone, and is best suited for reading in small doses. It's a great introduction to writers to get to know, as well.

In a world where nature writing - like many other fields - has traditionally been dominated by white male authors, it was a joy and a pleasure to read about so many creative and influential women, some of whom I'd heard of previously, some of whom were new to me.

Kathryn Aalto has created a wonderful hybrid here, with a book that is part biography, part essay, part nature writing, which is interesting and informative without ever becoming preachy or dry. I googled the featured women constantly throughout, wanting to find out more about their lives, and really feel that this book was like opening a window onto a world I hadn't previously considered.

A wonderful book which I will be gifting to all the women I know.

Thank you to NetGalley and to the publisher who gave me a free advance copy of this book in exchange fro an honest review.

A great book for classes focused on nature writing and the environment. I would happily use excerpts with my high school students.

If you feel the need to escape to the woods or a wide open field, to sink your toes into sand or hike up a mountain, this book will give you plenty of reading material to soothe your soul.

Summary

Writing Wild: Women Poets, Ramblers, and Mavericks Who Shape How We See the Natural World gives a glimpse of 25 women who write about nature. Kathryn Aalto covers a range in terms of culture and writing genre from the poetry of Dorothy Wordsworth to the activism of Rachel Carson to the poetry and activism of Camille T. Dungy. Aalto talks about European women, American women, African-American women, and Indigenous women to show nature writing from different perspectives.

Review

Each section of the book is fairly short, but Aalto packs in enough information and examples to leave the reader wanting more. I enjoyed the illustrations of each author at the beginning of each section, and I liked how Aalto incorporates excerpts of their work so their writing can stand for itself.

Aalto has clearly done her research for Writing Wild; she speaks of each author's backstory, and she travelled to many of the places the authors wrote about. I enjoyed seeing her perspective of landscapes combined with what each nature writer said. My favourite part of the book is how Aalto shows that nature writing applies to so much of life: environmentalism, spirituality, mental health, gender, sexuality, etc.

The one thing I wish the book had more of is BIPOC writers. Although there is some diversity in Aalto's choice of nature writers, there could be more; Writing Wild is missing Asian and Latinx perspectives, which I think would be fantastic additions. I do appreciate, though, how almost every chapter ends in a list of other women nature writers for further reading, and there's an extensive list of sources at the end of the book.

Rating: 4/5 stars
Publication Date: June 23, 2020

Thank you NetGalley and Timber Press for the ARC!

A fantastic compilation of women nature writers throughout history. I was pleased with the diverse representation in this book and enjoyed learning about women I'd never heard of. I imagine this will be a loved resource for many women writers, specifically those in the environmental space.

Four and a bit rounded down.

This is a great book. It is to women nature writers what I really wanted Monster, She Wrote to be to women horror writers. Detailed profiles with lengthy direct quotes and some deep analysis combines really well with the author's smart, conversational tone that makes the book feel much more personal and immediate. My TBR has become the richer for it.

An excellent and diverse collection of writers from the past to the present.

Reading this was a pleasure - short profiles of women writing about science, nature, the environment - from a wide range of time periods, backgrounds, etc. I had read quite a few of the women (some are favorites close to my heart - Annie Dillard, Mary Oliver, etc) but still my TBR grew exponentially!

For each writer profiled, there is an overview, at least one excerpt, an artistic rendering of her face, and a bibliography. Often short lists of additional similar writers finishes a longer profile.

Subtitled Women Poets, Ramblers, and Mavericks Who Shape How We See the Natural World, WRITING WILD is a lovely book that collects twenty-five notable women naturalists, who were/are also writers, poets, scientists, gardeners, essayists, journalists, biographers, ramblers. WRITING WILD celebrates the work and sisterhood of women as part of the conservation effort. Author Kathryn Aalto tells us not to worry if we have not heard the term eco-feminism; it’s enough to celebrate a lady poet.

Dorothy Wordsworth and Susan Fenimore Cooper are relatives of better-known writers, but seem to have shared their adventures and experiences, inspired some of their writings, even been plagiarised in a time when most women didn’t write more than letters and housekeeping diaries.

Rachel Carson, a scientist, ushered in an age of ecological concern when her book Silent Spring broke the news that the pesticide DDT was seriously harming the birds, was accumulating in larger birds up the trophic steps and would just as easily induce cancers and other illnesses in people.

Helen Macdonald wrote the autobiographical H Is For Hawk about training a sulky goshawk after her father died, on the edges of Cambridge, England. She has continued to write about birds.

Rebecca Solnit is, of course, that lady who penned the exasperated Men Explain Things To Me after a dinner party host ‘mansplained’ her own book to her on the strength of his having read a review and not absorbed the fact that his guest had written the original material. When not creating new words for our life experiences, she also writes about walking in nature.

Kathryn Aalto, commenting on the fact that environmentalism was for too long the preserve of the white male, has made sure to introduce us to several ladies from other backgrounds. Carolyn Finney writes about the black and female experience of America’s National Parks, explaining that the African American people in the past did not experience the shared ownership of these spaces.

Robin Wall Kimmerer is a botanist and writer whose background is the Potawatomi Nation. She is as comfortable giving a TED Talk as acting field guide on an environmental literature college weekend.

Giseal Goppel is an illustrator living in Germany, and she has drawn a head and shoulders portrait of each of the twenty-five women featured. Other ladies are mentioned two or three to a page, such as Barbara Kingsolver and Naomi Klein.

Suffice to say that if you want a list of recommended reading about women and nature, just prepare it from this book. Most of those featured are from Britain or America, but it’s a great start. I have to thank WRITING WILD for introducing me to so many illustrious and friendly companions on my walk.

A beautiful compilation of authors from all walks of life and all areas of spirit and writing. So many different views, opinions and lifestyles! I loved reading this and recommend it to anyone who likes this type of novels

I've received a copy of the book from NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.

This is a beautifully rendered and curated book about nature writing by women. Years ago I took a course on Women Regionalists which I thought would figure prominently in this book, surprisingly there was little to no parallels. There were some familiar names like Geneva Grace Stratton the author of Limberlost, Dorothy Wordsworth, Vita Sackville-West and Helen Macdonald author of "H is for Hawk" (a book that has been languishing for years in my TBR list). But also many authors who I've never heard of like Gretel Ehrlich an American travel writer who was struck by lightning and wrote about her experience.

These type of books usually wreck havoc on my TBR lists and this was no exception. I've add some notable mentions to my ever growing list, such as Saci Lloyd's The Carbon Diaries, a cli-fi that sounds right up my alley or Elena Passarello whose "Animals Strike Curious Poses" sounds extraordinary. The highlight of the book for me were the chapter on Rachel Carson who wrote "Silent Spring" which raised a debate leading to the ban on DDT. And the chapter about Nan Shepherd, a Scottish Modernist writer and poet, whose work "The Living Mountain" is both poetic and philosophical.

However, some of the profiles felt rather sparse. Each of the women featured is given a few pages of biographical in bibliographical information as well as some prominent book quotes that exemplify their style. Sometimes this felt a little insufficient and too much like a Wikipedia page. If I could rate a 3.5-star this would be a more accurate rating .

My thanks to #NetGalley and Timber Press for a digital ARC of #WritingWild.

I was greatly looking forward to reading this book but have not been able to download it onto my kindle or convert it into into a kindle format. To say I am disappointed is an understatement, however I have added it to my wishlist to purchase when it is published. In the meantime I'm giving it 5-stars based on what other reviewers have said about the content and how useful it is, and if I can find a way to read my Netgalley copy I will write a proper review.

In this book, author Kathryn Aalto celebrates 25 women writers who have contributed to our understanding of the natural world. Scholars, conservationists, essay writers, explorers and more... each of these women have added to our connection with nature in their own unique ways through hundreds of years of history. Part biography, part travel essay, Writing Wild guides the reader through the lives of these writers and the legacy they left behind, and encourages the next generation of women to continue.

Writing Wild introduced me to a whole new genre. Many of these female writers were new to me, although some I'd met in history before. Still Aalto does a wonderful job of adding the details needed to see them as whole women and their unique place in literature. Aalto does a wonderful job of introducing the environment in which each of these writers would have been immersed. She takes the reader on a journey of highlighting each woman's contributions to history while allowing their own voices to shine through. Writing Wild would make a delightful read for anyone interested in women's history, or environmental issues.

*Disclaimer: I received a free copy of this book from the publisher. All opinions are my own.

I really enjoyed this collection of essays/portraits that introduced me to several writers whose work I was unfamiliar with (and that I plan to read more of as a result of this book). I would have liked to see a more diverse selection of writers included, with more international representation (even within the English speaking world, more Canadian, Australian, and other authors could have been included); the collection focuses mainly on US and British writers. Thank you to Netgalley and the publisher for this advance copy.

A thoroughly lovely introduction or reintroduction to 25 nature writers with gorgeous design elements throughout!

Kathryn Aalto's running narrative sets the perfect tone for the short prose, poetry, and essay excerpts shared from each writer. I can see "Writing Wild" featured on a coffee table, in college coursework, as a nonfiction book club pick, as a travel/nature-related gift, and ― most assuredly ― as a refreshing volume to dip in and out of during a quarantine when you desperately need an expansion of perspective and a mental ramble in unreachable fields. What a breath of fresh air!

I particularly appreciated the further reading sections and how they're thoughtfully themed and grouped after each writer. They transform this into a bibliographic resource that features far more than the 25 writers who are officially profiled. I'm not sure any reader could make it through this volume without adding several new writers or titles to their TBR lists!

My thanks to #NetGalley and Timber Press for a digital ARC of #WritingWild.

What a beautiful and refreshing read! Not only will I be suggesting this title for acquisition at my library, but I plan on buying it for myself. It is a treasure of female voice and spirit - their chorus on the importance, beauty, and understanding of nature is something deeply needed by us today. I cannot wait to explore these names even further - what a wonderful gift.