Contemporary Lake District Writers
We'VE told you before about authors from the past, but who are the best writers in the Lake District today? Who are the contemporary ones in the footsteps of John Ruskin and William Wordsworth, Arthur Ransome and Alfred Wainwright?
Lakeland Book of the Year Awards
We know who was crowned the best this year, because we went to the Lakeland Book of the Year Awards, a sort of Lake District version of the Booker Prize. There we saw Grasmere’s Polly Atkin win the overall prize for her book Some of Us Just Fall. It combines memoir and nature writing to trace a personal journey, where she turns to the natural world to help deal with illness.
We had joined more than 80 book fans at a special ceremony in Kendal, to celebrate Cumbria’s rich literary talent in its landmark 40th year. Founded in 1984 by author, journalist and broadcaster Hunter Davies, all entries for Lakeland Book of the Year must be set in – or feature – Cumbria in some way.
Who We're Reading
But who are the best writers in the Lake District that we’ve been reading recently or, more to the point, that our visitors have been reading when they stay here at the Cedar Manor?
Rachel Lynch
Rachel Lynch
We spotted Rachel Lynch as one of those shortlisted for the book awards, and she looked such a pleasant, genteel lass for one with such a vivid and gory imagination. Rachel’s crime thrillers are hugely popular here among visitors, because they can literally visit the scene of the crime! Her books are set in the Lakes, so you might read about ghastly goings-on in Ambleside, bodies found in Thirlmere, or a mysterious helicopter crash on the very slopes of Scafell Pike. Did it fall or was it pushed?
Rachel’s books, featuring DI Kelly Porter, have sold more than a million copies. They are gripping thrillers with great plots and characters, but what we like specially is the detail about the Lake District landscape. Rachel knows her fells and lakes. So if one of her characters is heading on a hike up Blencathra, or descending to Wasdale Head, you can be sure that the geographical detail is accurate.
Martin Edwards
Martin Edwards
Martin Edwards is ‘ridiculously knowledgeable' about the field of crime and suspense fiction, says the great Ian Rankin. And Richard Osman describes him as ‘a true master of British crime writing’. We say he’s also very knowledgeable about the landscape of the Lake District where several of his stories are set. And if you’ve read The Cipher Garden, The Arsenic Labyrinth and The Coffin Trail, you might look with sharper eyes on your next fell-walk!
Martin, who is also a solicitor, is a member of the Murder Squad collective of crime writers, and was a long-serving chair of the Crime Writers’ Association. He's won the CWA Diamond Dagger, the highest honour in UK crime writing. And in 2015 he was elected eighth President of the Detection Club; his predecessors include G.K. Chesterton, Dorothy L. Sayers, and Agatha Christie. Here in the Lakes, set around Ambleside and Coniston, his crime fighters are DCI Hannah Scarlett and historian Daniel Kind. Really good mysteries, and exceptionally good descriptions of our lovely landscape.
Danielle Ledbury
Danielle Ledbury
Danielle was another guest at the Book Awards ceremony, and we absolutely love her photographs as well as her compelling stories about runners on the trails and fells. To create the lovely book Why we Run she spoke to 28 runners who have a connection with the Lake District. “They picked their favourite locations; I unpacked my camera and photographed them as they told me what running meant to them, physically, mentally, and emotionally.”
Sometimes, she believes, knowing that others have taken a similar journey is enough to remind us to get out the door. This beautiful book, surely making her one of the best writers in the Lake District, is full of our heroes, some scarcely known beyond the running world. But included here is the late great Joss Naylor, the greatest of all the fell runners.
Why We Run is a truly local project, published by our very own Inspired by Lakeland. And this groundbreaking publisher is also responsible for the next author on our list.
Liz Wakelin
Liz Wakelin
Artist and writer Liz Wakelin was also at the Lakeland Book Awards, picking up the Latitude Press prize for illustration and presentation. Her acclaimed Sketching a Year in Lakeland is an exquisite diary, all handwritten, with beautiful watercolour sketches revealing everyday life in the towns and villages, on the hills and beside the water here on our doorstep.
It’s a personal journal that Liz – mountaineer, cyclist, runner, adventurer as well as artist – is very happy to share. The book tells the tale of her life during 12 months: her walks around the fells, the cycle rides with husband Barry, visits to the local bookshop and ironmonger and, above all, tea and cakes in the fabulous cafes.
There are images of high mountains, of course, including a spectacular panorama of Fairfield and the Helvellyn range from Place Fell. But also among the sketches are jars of marmalade and honey on a stall at Keswick market, teapots and tea-cosies, stiles and gate-latches, sheep and lambs, and, above all, flowers. Definitely one of the best writers in the Lake District in our view.
James Rebanks
James Rebanks
And so to the grand master, a surprising best seller. The Herdy Shepherd as he’s known runs a farm in the remote Matterdale valley with his wife Helen, who is also an author. They keep prize-winning Herdwick sheep and a herd of Belted Galloway cattle. It's a traditional upland family farm but with huge educational, cultural and social impact; they run workshops, courses and events on the farm around nature, regenerative farming and nature writing.
And his first book was a sensational success. The Shepherd's Life, published in 2015, won the Lake District Book of the Year, was shortlisted for the Wainwright and Ondaatje prizes, and has been translated into sixteen languages. It was described by one reviewer as 'An unforgettable book, one that raises important questions. It is also one of the most truthful descriptions of contemporary rural life.' His second book, English Pastoral, was also a Top Ten bestseller and was named the Sunday Times Nature Book of the Year. It was hailed a 'masterpiece' by the New Statesman, it won the Wainwright Prize for Nature Writing and was named Fortnum and Mason Food Book of the Year.
Now Rebanks is about to publish what promises to be another best-seller, The Place of Tides (Allen Lane). It's about an old woman and her way of life on a remote Norwegian island, the story of a unique and ancient landscape. The book comes out in October, and will surely confirm James Rebanks as one of the very best writers in the Lake District.
Where to Find These Books
All our recommended authors and their books can be found in our two wonderful local bookshops, Fred's in Ambleside, and Sam Read in Grasmere.