We love a good read at Alpkit! Our book shelf is crammed tales of derring-do and inspirational stories, and we’ve read and re-read so many of them that we decided to share our own Daring Deeds online and print our own magazine - Outpost.
We recently met up with our mate Jon from Vertebrate Publishing to find out about a new project, his impassioned pitch made us want to get involved and offer our support…
Waymaking
So, we are delighted to be supporting the publication of Waymaking: the upcoming anthology of women’s adventure writing and art from Vertebrate Publishing.
With the women’s suffrage centenary earlier this year and a rise in discussions around gender issues in the media, the number of books written by women for women hitting the shops has seen a huge surge.
However, women are still largely under-represented in the outdoor-adventure genre, despite the fact there are plenty of woman out embarking on incredible adventures and expeditions and coming back with inspirational tales to tell. As the UK’s leading publisher of outdoor-adventure literature, Vertebrate Publishing are in an excellent position to provide a platform where women can share their tales of derring-do, and we would be honoured to play a role in that movement.
Waymaking is an anthology of prose, poetry and artwork by women who are inspired by nature and wild places. The work aims to continue the legacy left by the likes of Gwen Moffat (Space Below My Feet) and Nan Shepherd (The Living Mountain), which set a precedent for women writing inspirational stories about living and breathing alongside wild landscapes, becoming part of a larger adventure.
Why are we getting involved?
There are incredible stories being woven that belong on our bookshelves but aren’t there: stories by mountaineers, climbers, hillwalkers, adventurers, and lovers of the great outdoors. Vertebrate aim to record these stories, in turn encouraging others to share their own experiences
All royalties from the sales of Waymaking will be donated the John Muir Trust and Rape Crisis, helping to conserve our wild places and raise awareness of sexual violence in our society.
Through our involvement in the project, we hope that we can give Vertebrate the support they need to create an anthology that does the adventures justice, and ensure it reaches as many people as possible.
There are some very special contributors, familiar names and some new artists including award-winning author Bernadette McDonald, world-leading climber Hazel Findlay and adventurers Sarah Outen and Anna McNuff.
The book is being edited by award-winning poet, Helen Mort; Kendal Mountain Festival Artistic Director, Claire Carter; leading endurance athlete, Heather Dawe; and Vertebrate’s own editor, Camilla Barnard.
The book is due to be released in autumn 2018.
The full list of (awesome) contributors is as follows:
Jean Atkin | Polly Atkin | Camilla Barnard | Hazel Barnard | Sandy Bennett-Haber | Jen Benson | Judith Brown | Claire Carter | Genevieve Carver | Imogen Cassels | Maria Coffey | Lee Craigie | Joanna Croston | Lizzy Dalton | Nick Davies | Heather Dawe | Cath Drake | Paula Dunn | Lily Dyu | Caroline Eustace | Hazel Findlay | Paula Flach | Anna Fleming | Nikki Frumkin | Claire Giordano | Alison Grant | Geraldine Green | Lilace Mellin Guignard | Alyson Hallett | Melissa Harrison | Leslie Hsu Oh | Kathryn Hummel | Katie Ives | Kathleen Jones | Mab Jones | Solana Joy | Dr Judy Kendall | Anja Konig | Tami Knight | Tara Kramer | Dr Alexandra Lewis | Tessa Lyons | Alice Maddicott | Bernadette McDonald | Anna McNuff | Helen Mort | Evelyn O’Malley | Sarah Outen | Kari Nielsen | Libby Peter | Jen Randall | Penelope Shuttle | Ruth Wiggins | Allison Williams | Pam Williamson | Deziree Wilson | Krystle Wright