5.9 Kathryn Aalto: Writing in Place
Welcome to series 5, episode 9 of the Prompted by Nature podcast. I hope this one finds you well.
Action Point: WhenToPlugIn app: https://www.nationalgrid.com/cop26/when-to-plug-in-app
Linked episodes:
1.10a Jini Reddy, Magic in the Landscape
2.10a Marchelle Farrell, My Garden, My Teacher
4.2a Rebecca Schiller, Earthed
4.7a Benjamin Myers, Writing with the Land in ‘The Perfect Golden Circle’
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Today, we hear from one of my teachers, the wonderful Kathryn Aalto.
Kathryn Aalto is an American teacher, designer, speaker, and New York Times best-selling writer of creative nonfiction. For the past twenty-five years, her creative practice has fused nature and culture: teaching the literature of nature and place; designing beautiful and sustainable gardens; and writing about the natural world. Based in England, she teaches popular online and live writing courses, mentors emerging writers, and leads writing retreats in England and the United States. Kathryn is the author of three books including Writing Wild: Women Poets, Ramblers, and Mavericks Who Shape How We See the Natural World (2020), The Natural World of Winnie-the-Pooh: A Walk Through the Forest that Inspired the Hundred Acre Wood (2015), and Nature and Human Intervention (2011). Her personal essays and book reviews, appear in Smithsonian Magazine, Outside, Sierra, Buzzfeed, Resurgence and the Ecologist, and more.
In this episode, we discuss:
Kathryn’s childhood and youth growing up in Southern California
How her love of the personal essay came about and how this influenced her writing
How Kathryn’s connection to nature and place has changed and developed through her life
Her definition of sense of place
How her perception as an ex-pat enriches her understanding and encounters with nature and landscape
The circumstances that surrounded her stepping into what she always knew she was meant to do
The impact public speaking has had on her writing
Kathryn’s writing tips and what it means to ‘show, not tell’
The lesson she’d like to share with you (and it’s a good one!)
I took Kathryn’s nature writing course last summer and absolutely loved it. I’m not often able to invest in myself or my ongoing learning so it was amazing to finally take a writing class. I’m so used to teaching that it was joyful to be a student again. I can highly recommend any of Kathryn’s classes and workshops. You can find Kathryn and all information about her forthcoming writing courses at www.kathrynaalto.com and over on social media @kathrynaalto. I’ve also added Kathryn’s books to my bookshop over on bookshop.org so please do pop over there and have a browse. https://uk.bookshop.org/shop/promptedbynature
As always, you can find me over on my website www.promptedbynature.co.uk and on social media @prompted.by.nature on Instagram, @promptedxnature on Twitter and @promptedbynature on Facebook. I have a few local in-person courses and day retreats coming up so do have a look on my website events page if you’re local to Brighton and Hove.
The writing prompt that follows this episode will be up on Tuesday.
Happy listening!
Helen x
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Writing Prompt
Hello! Welcome to your writing prompt for my conversation with Kathryn Aalto. I got a lot out of the chat with Kathryn and it was lovely to be able to catch up with her and go a little deeper into her own creative life and practice.
For this prompt, I’m combining two ideas that came up in the conversation. Firstly, Kathryn’s definition of ‘sense of place’ and secondly her thoughts on ‘show don’t tell.’ Both of these concepts we covered in the course I took with Kathryn and the ‘show don’t tell’ technique is something I used to use a lot with my groups as a school teacher and still use now with my nature writing groups.
Kathryn spoke of ‘sense of place’ as being ‘That invisible layer of memories, history and emotions that covers a physical landscape with this invisible strata.’
For this prompt, I’d like you to create a description of a place. This could either be a space new to you, or that you know well, a place in which you feel a sense of belonging. Perhaps it is a space close to where you live, somewhere you once visited, or somewhere you’re new to.
Wherever it is, you are going to take your reader there using the show don’t tell technique. For this, you are avoiding telling your reader anything but are rather trying to show them it. For example, if you are in a woodland space, rather than telling them explicitly that that’s where you are, show them that that’s where you are. If you need any ideas, consider the following:
How does the air feel?
If you close your eyes, what sounds can you hear - close up and far away?
What colours, shapes and shades catch your eye?
Consider Kathryn’s definition: what layers, memories, history and emotions exist in this place. Maybe you have no emotional connection to this place as yet, and aren’t already aware of any history or memories held in the place. What comes through when you are here? What can you imagine about this place?
When you read your work through, any sign of you telling me something, edit it to be more descriptive. Remember this is just an exercise in which you are training your descriptive muscles to be more perceptive, to create more detail and to entice your reader, inviting them into this world with you as their guide.
Please do reach if you use this prompt. You can find me in my favourite online places - on the website, www.promptedbynature.co.uk and on Instagram @prompted.by.nature
Happy writing!
Helen x
