In this talk, Dr Kerri Andrews, editor of Nan Shepherd's Correspondence, discussed what Shepherd's newly-published letters tell us about the power of walking in art and life. She also considered what the letters have to say about Nan's most famous work, The Living Mountain, and how we might better understand the importance of Nan's lifelong love affair with the Cairngorm Mountains.
The talk was fascinating with lots of information about Nan Shepherd's life, walking and writing. I really enjoyed learning about Nan's correspondence with the novelist Neil Gunn, as well as her relationship with Hugh Macdiarmid. The letters between Gunn and Shepherd reveal how they both interact with the landscape around them, and how they brought this to bear on their writing. Shepherd was a massive advocate of Scottish writing and she wanted to share this with the students she was teaching at Aberdeen University.
Dr Andrews gave a really excellent and engaging talk which we thoroughly enjoyed. I am now inspired to read Shepherd's book The Living Mountain as well as dip into Wild Geese an anthology of Shepherd's prose and poetry.
An added bonus was the presence of Sam Read Books, and I managed to nab the only copy of Dr Kerri Andrews’ latest book!