Australian Nature Writing Project

Through a series of seminars, mentorships and publishing opportunities, Island wants to encourage new creative literary responses to bolster the underrepresented genre of Australian nature writing. The project will run over 18 months in three cycles. Island’s Online Editor, Ben Walter, introduces the project: A couple of years ago, I published an essay in the print edition of Island noting that Australian nature writing exists, but seems to be constantly forgotten. I’d found several essays going through the same trajectory – the author assumes that Australian nature writing barely warrants a mention. But when they look closer, they find a huge range of literature that fits the bill. But still: we don’t think of nature writing like they do in North America or the UK. One editor I spoke to observed: ‘Let’s say H is for Hawk was written here, by an Australian. I think it would be published, but I don’t think it would have been published in the way that it was published in the UK … that book wouldn’t look the same in Australia.’ At a time when environmental issues are so pressing and significant, we want to give proper recognition to this form – a suite of unforgettable pieces that are unmistakably Australian nature writing.

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