I re-read The Living Mountain<\/em> on a recent hiking trip in the Scottish Highlands. It speaks of the mountains in such a contemporary voice that it could have been written yesterday. In fact, it was completed in 1945 and only published in 1977 a few years before Nan Shepherd\u2019s death. It remained practically unknown until about a decade ago when her writing, including a book of poetry In the Cairngorms<\/em> (published in 1934) was re-discovered and championed by Robert Macfarlane.<\/p>\n Shepherd records her feelings about the views, the rocks, the wildlife and the hidden joys of a part of the Highlands close to where she spent her whole life – the Cairngorms. Her approach to this wilderness was less about conquering the peaks and more about listening to the landscape, becoming one with it: \u2018\u2026I discover most nearly what it is to be<\/em>. I have walked out of the body and into the mountain. I am a manifestation of its total life as is the starry saxifrage or the white-winged ptarmigan\u2019 (p. 106).\u00a0 The Living Mountain<\/em> gleams with the insights of a prose poet in her chosen landscape.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" Nan Shepherd<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":128,"featured_media":2100,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[6],"tags":[],"class_list":{"0":"post-2099","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","6":"hentry","7":"category-bookshelf","9":"with-featured-image"},"featured_image_urls_v2":{"full":["https:\/\/more.bham.ac.uk\/artsofplace\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/42\/2022\/08\/the_living_mountain-hardback-cover-9781786897350.jpg",1606,2560,false],"thumbnail":["https:\/\/more.bham.ac.uk\/artsofplace\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/42\/2022\/08\/the_living_mountain-hardback-cover-9781786897350-300x300.jpg",300,300,true],"medium":["https:\/\/more.bham.ac.uk\/artsofplace\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/42\/2022\/08\/the_living_mountain-hardback-cover-9781786897350-282x450.jpg",282,450,true],"medium_large":["https:\/\/more.bham.ac.uk\/artsofplace\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/42\/2022\/08\/the_living_mountain-hardback-cover-9781786897350-768x1224.jpg",768,1224,true],"large":["https:\/\/more.bham.ac.uk\/artsofplace\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/42\/2022\/08\/the_living_mountain-hardback-cover-9781786897350-642x1024.jpg",642,1024,true],"1536x1536":["https:\/\/more.bham.ac.uk\/artsofplace\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/42\/2022\/08\/the_living_mountain-hardback-cover-9781786897350-964x1536.jpg",964,1536,true],"2048x2048":["https:\/\/more.bham.ac.uk\/artsofplace\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/42\/2022\/08\/the_living_mountain-hardback-cover-9781786897350-1285x2048.jpg",1285,2048,true],"ab-block-post-grid-landscape":["https:\/\/more.bham.ac.uk\/artsofplace\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/42\/2022\/08\/the_living_mountain-hardback-cover-9781786897350-600x400.jpg",600,400,true],"ab-block-post-grid-square":["https:\/\/more.bham.ac.uk\/artsofplace\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/42\/2022\/08\/the_living_mountain-hardback-cover-9781786897350-600x600.jpg",600,600,true],"atomic-blocks-featured-image":["https:\/\/more.bham.ac.uk\/artsofplace\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/42\/2022\/08\/the_living_mountain-hardback-cover-9781786897350-1200x1913.jpg",1200,1913,true],"atomic-blocks-featured-image-wide":["https:\/\/more.bham.ac.uk\/artsofplace\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/42\/2022\/08\/the_living_mountain-hardback-cover-9781786897350-1400x2232.jpg",1400,2232,true],"atomic-blocks-logo":["https:\/\/more.bham.ac.uk\/artsofplace\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/42\/2022\/08\/the_living_mountain-hardback-cover-9781786897350-300x478.jpg",300,478,true]},"post_excerpt_stackable_v2":"![](\"https:\/\/d243y1uga1q3sn.cloudfront.net\/assets\/files\/381646\/the_living_mountain-hardback-cover-9781786897350.jpg\")
<\/p>\n