Nan Shepherd’s Correspondence, 1920-80
Recognised now as one of the most important voices to emerge from Scotland’s literary ‘Renaissance’ in the 1930s, the full extent of Nan Shepherd’s considerable cultural significance is revealed only in the letters she sent and received over the course of her long life and extraordinary career. Including letters from Neil Gunn, Hugh MacDiarmid, Jessie Kesson, Helen B. Cruickshank, Agnes Mure Mackenzie and many more, this edition documents Shepherd’s emergence as a celebrated novelist in the 1920s and 30s, her quieter years editing the Aberdeen University Review, and the composition of what would, eventually, be her most famous work, The Living Mountain. With an introduction, annotations and biographical sketches, Nan Shepherd’s Correspondence brings you into Nan Shepherd’s world as one of the most influential literary figures of her generation.
Paperback edition coming November 2024.
Longlisted for the Saltire Book Awards Research Book of the Year 2024.
This volume’s excellent organisation and extra material ensure the interest of these letters is best revealed. The author has a thorough understanding of the value of Shepherd’s correspondence in this moment of her revival, and in the context of wider themes such as new nature writing and women’s experiences of modernity. This is an absolute treat to read. – Samantha Walton, Bath Spa University