Very interesting post as always - I've always wanted to dive into Hinterland, and I've seen this issue advertised before and put off getting it, but now I think I'll go for it! Wonderful to see what other place writers are up to lately. I especially love Jean Sprackland's work, her book These Silent Mansions is superb. Thanks for the nudge - ;)
You bring up a very interesting idea, of presenting memory of place (or anything) in not just the mindset of a child, but in the actual words of one as well - a fabulous writing prompt I'll have to try sometime! It would cast a completely different color on the piece - lovely!
Thank you for your comment, Lynn. It was great to see the Hinterland Place Writing special edition published, and I hope the exercise is repeated. I would love to have been a fly on the wall at the editorial meetings! I'm sure there were some very interesting discussions about what constitutes place writing. In a recent conversation I had with Jean Sprackland, she described the definition of place writing as a 'slippery' subject. :-)
Ooo - I would love to hear Jean speak sometime or even some of her recent thoughts on the subject, but she's not a social media person as far as I know. Do you know why she called it a slippery subject?
I think the word 'slippery' is a good one because place writing is hard to define precisely. We can make certain statements about what we think it is, or might be, but so far as I know, there is no decisive description. The more we discuss it, the clearer we'll get to setting boundaries on this field of study... IF we want to (and I think it's this question over our intention to confine it that Jean was getting at). One of the reasons I started this Substack was to get closer to what we mean when we say this or that piece of writing can be categorised as Place Writing.
Ah. Thank you, Yasmin. I didn't realize it lacked clear definition, thus far. This may be why place writing isn't viewed as a genre or as far as I know, even a sub-genre here in the states. It's clumped into memoir as I'm told by industry pros. It seems to be floating around over here, looking for recognition and a home (no pun intended). Readers in the states saw it many decades ago with the works of Wallace Stegner as you probably know and then Wendell Berry, but it seems to be struggling. I'm just guessing on that - I don't have marketing data, but from what I'm reading about publishing and in discussion with other readers, it's very, very niche. The UK however, seems to be embracing it on a larger scale.
It's now - at least over here - in a sluggish rebirth. Sad, because it's such an important part of our lives that society seems to be shutting out. More people need to be rediscovering this vital connection.
Hi Yasmin
Very interesting post as always - I've always wanted to dive into Hinterland, and I've seen this issue advertised before and put off getting it, but now I think I'll go for it! Wonderful to see what other place writers are up to lately. I especially love Jean Sprackland's work, her book These Silent Mansions is superb. Thanks for the nudge - ;)
You bring up a very interesting idea, of presenting memory of place (or anything) in not just the mindset of a child, but in the actual words of one as well - a fabulous writing prompt I'll have to try sometime! It would cast a completely different color on the piece - lovely!
Thank you for your comment, Lynn. It was great to see the Hinterland Place Writing special edition published, and I hope the exercise is repeated. I would love to have been a fly on the wall at the editorial meetings! I'm sure there were some very interesting discussions about what constitutes place writing. In a recent conversation I had with Jean Sprackland, she described the definition of place writing as a 'slippery' subject. :-)
Ooo - I would love to hear Jean speak sometime or even some of her recent thoughts on the subject, but she's not a social media person as far as I know. Do you know why she called it a slippery subject?
I think the word 'slippery' is a good one because place writing is hard to define precisely. We can make certain statements about what we think it is, or might be, but so far as I know, there is no decisive description. The more we discuss it, the clearer we'll get to setting boundaries on this field of study... IF we want to (and I think it's this question over our intention to confine it that Jean was getting at). One of the reasons I started this Substack was to get closer to what we mean when we say this or that piece of writing can be categorised as Place Writing.
Ah. Thank you, Yasmin. I didn't realize it lacked clear definition, thus far. This may be why place writing isn't viewed as a genre or as far as I know, even a sub-genre here in the states. It's clumped into memoir as I'm told by industry pros. It seems to be floating around over here, looking for recognition and a home (no pun intended). Readers in the states saw it many decades ago with the works of Wallace Stegner as you probably know and then Wendell Berry, but it seems to be struggling. I'm just guessing on that - I don't have marketing data, but from what I'm reading about publishing and in discussion with other readers, it's very, very niche. The UK however, seems to be embracing it on a larger scale.
It's now - at least over here - in a sluggish rebirth. Sad, because it's such an important part of our lives that society seems to be shutting out. More people need to be rediscovering this vital connection.
I very much enjoy your writing, this is a great publication.
Thank you Sam, that's very kind. It's great to connect with you here.