Spirit of place

    I'm always very glad to see a book I've loved get the recognition that comes with a literary prize listing or win, and today it's kudos to James Rebanks in the form of a shortlisting for his The Shepherd's Life: A Tale of the Lake District for the Royal Society of Literature Ondaatje Prize. That award celebrates a work of fiction, non-fiction or poetry which "best evokes the spirit of a place", and James Rebanks' book certainly does that and more besides (there's a short post on it here).

    Also shortlisted are The River by Jane Clarke, The Great Explosion: Gunpowder, the Great War, and a Disaster on the Kent Marshes by Brian Dillon, Weatherland: Writers & Artists Under English Skies by Alexandra Harris, Nothing is True and Everything is Possible: Adventures in Modern Russia, and This Divided Island: Stories from the Sri Lankan War by Samanth Subramanian.

    The winner will be announced on 23rd. May.