{{Short description|Scottish memoirist, novelist and poet (1893–1981)}} {{Use British English|date=November 2016}} {{Use dmy dates|date=July 2021}} {{Infobox writer |name = Anna "Nan" Shepherd |embed = |image = Nan Shepherd photo.jpg |image_size = |image_upright = |alt = Photo of a young Nan Shepherd wearing a headband |caption = |honorific_suffix = |birth_name = |birth_date = {{Birth date|1893|02|11|df=yes}} |birth_place = Cults, Aberdeenshire, Scotland |death_date = {{Death date and age|1981|02|27|1893|02|11|df=yes}} |death_place = Woodend Hospital, Aberdeen, Scotland |resting_place = |occupation = Author, poet |language = English, Scots |alma_mater = University of Aberdeen |genre = Novels, poetry, non-fiction |subject = <!-- or: |subjects = --> |movement = Modernism |notableworks = {{Flatlist| *''The Quarry Wood'' (1928) *''The Weatherhouse'' (1930) *''A Pass in the Grampians'' (1933) *''The Living Mountain'' (1977) }} |years_active = }} '''Anna''' "'''Nan'''" '''Shepherd''' (11 February 1893 – 27 February 1981) was a Scottish modernist writer and poet, who authored the memoir, ''The Living Mountain'', based on experiences of hill walking in the Cairngorms. The work has been cited as influential by nature writers Robert Macfarlane and Richard Mabey.<ref>{{Cite news |url=https://www.theguardian.com/books/2013/dec/27/nan-shepherd-vision-cairngorms-robert-macfarlane |title=How Nan Shepherd remade my vision of the Cairngorms |last=Macfarlane |first=Robert |date=2013-12-27 |work=The Guardian |access-date=2019-11-24 |language=en-GB |issn=0261-3077}}</ref> She also wrote poetry and three novels set in small fictional communities in Northern Scotland. The landscape and weather of this area play a major role in her novels and provide a focus for her poetry.
For most of her working life, Shepherd was a lecturer in English at the Aberdeen College of Education.<ref>{{Cite web |url=https://www.scottishpoetrylibrary.org.uk/poet/nan-shepherd/ |title=Nan Shepherd {{!}} Poet |website=Scottish Poetry Library |language=en-GB |access-date=2019-11-24}}</ref>
==Life== Shepherd was born on 11 February 1893 at Westerton Cottage, Cults, near Aberdeen, the second child of Jane Smith (née Kelly) and John Shepherd. Her father was a civil engineer and her paternal grandparents were farmers, her maternal grandfather was a tailor in Aberdeen and her uncle was local architect William Kelly. Her family were Presbyterian. Shortly after her birth the family moved to a house, named Dunvegan, in the same town. She then lived there for most of her life.<ref name="Peacock">{{Cite book |last=Peacock |first=Charlotte |title=Into The Mountain: A Life of Nan Shepherd |date=2018 |publisher=GALILEO Publishers |isbn=978-1-903385-78-4 |location=Cambridge |pages=47 |oclc=1027057189}}</ref><ref name="OxfordDNB" /> She attended Cults primary school and Aberdeen High School for Girls, after which she studied at the University of Aberdeen, graduating with an MA in 1915.
After university she joined Aberdeen College of Education, formerly Aberdeen Training Centre for Teachers, and in 1919 became a lecturer in English.<ref name="OxfordDNB">Ali Smith, "Shepherd, Anna (1893–1981)", ''Oxford Dictionary of National Biography'', Oxford University Press, 2004, [http://www.oxforddnb.com/templates/article.jsp?articleid=59071 Retrieved 22 December 2013].</ref><ref>University of Aberdeen Archives, Special Collections, [https://calm.abdn.ac.uk/archives/Record.aspx?src=CalmView.Catalog&id=UNIVERSITY+1421%2F6+ Records of Northern College of Education (formerly Aberdeen College of Education, Aberdeen Provincial Training Centre, Aberdeen Church of Scotland Training College and Aberdeen Free Church Training College).]</ref> She retired from teaching in 1956, and in her retirement edited the ''Aberdeen University Review'' until 1963. In 1964, the University of Aberdeen awarded her an honorary doctorate.<ref name="SPL">{{Cite web |url=http://www.scottishpoetrylibrary.org.uk/poetry/poets/nan-shepherd |title=Nan Shepherd (1893–1981) |publisher=Scottish Poetry Library |access-date=22 December 2013}}.</ref>
Shepherd remained unmarried, due in part to the massive death toll of the First World War, which had an important demographic impact on her generation. In her late twenties however, she had a passionate love affair with the married philosopher John Macmurray, and the despair of this frustrated passion gave rise to confessional poetry, autobiographical reflection, and ultimately a mystical relationship with the Cairngorm Mountains. These were the foundations of her literary output.<ref name = "Peacock"/>
In her mid 50s she withdrew from the literary scene, but remained a friend and a supporter of other Scottish writers, including Neil M. Gunn, Marion Angus and Jessie Kesson.<ref name = "Peacock"/>
On 27 February 1981, Shepherd died at Woodend Hospital, Aberdeen.<ref>Beth Dickson, {{usurped|1=[https://web.archive.org/web/20070706070322/http://www.slainte.org.uk/scotauth/shephdsw.htm "Nan Shepherd, Novelist, 1893-1981"]}}, website of the Scottish Library and Information Council (archived).</ref> She was 88.
==Works== ===Novels=== Shepherd was a major contributor to early Scottish Modernist literature. Her first novel, ''The Quarry Wood'' (1928) has often been compared to ''Sunset Song'' by Lewis Grassic Gibbon, published four years later, as they both portray restricted, often tragic women in rural Scotland of that time.<ref name=SLTT>Scottish Literary Tour Trust, [https://web.archive.org/web/20150923233602/http://www.edinburghliterarypubtour.co.uk/makars/shepard/shepherd.pdf Nan Shepherd 1893–1981] (archived)</ref> Her second novel, ''The Weatherhouse'' (1930), concerns interactions between people in a small rural Scottish community.<ref name=GQBlurb>{{Cite book |title=Book Description |publisher=Canongate |date=September 1996 |id={{ASIN |0862415896 |country=uk}}}}</ref> Her third and final novel, ''A Pass in the Grampians'' (1933), concerns the departure of a teenage girl from a rural community for the big city.<ref name=OxfordDNB/>
Shepherd's fiction brings out the sharp conflict between the demands of tradition and the pull of modernity, particularly in women's lives. All three novels assign a major role to the landscape and weather in small northern Scottish communities they describe.<ref name=OxfordDNB/>
===Poetry=== While a student at university, Shepherd wrote poems for the student magazine, ''Alma Mater,'' and in 1934 she published a poetry collection, ''In the Cairngorms''.<ref name=SPL/> This was reissued in 2015 with a new introduction by Robert Macfarlane.<ref>{{Cite web |url=http://www.galileopublishing.co.uk/In_the_Cairngorms.html |title=Galileo Publishing - in the Cairngorms by Nan Shepherd -Foreword by Robert Macfarlane |access-date=2014-07-10 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140714230023/http://www.galileopublishing.co.uk/In_the_Cairngorms.html |archive-date=14 July 2014}}</ref>
===Non-fiction=== Shepherd was a keen hill-walker. Her love for the mountainous Grampian landscape led to a short non-fiction book ''The Living Mountain'', written in the 1940s,<ref>{{Cite book |title=The living mountain: a celebration of the Cairngorm mountains of Scotland |last=Shepherd, Nan. |date=2011 |publisher=Canongate |isbn=978-0-85786-183-2 |location=Edinburgh |oclc=778121107}}</ref> but published only in 1977. It is now the book for which she is best known.<ref>{{Cite web |url=https://www.theguardian.com/books/2008/aug/30/scienceandnature.travel |title=I walk therefore I am |author=Robert Macfarlane |date=30 August 2008 |work=The Guardian |access-date=22 December 2013}}</ref> It has been quoted as an influence by prominent nature writers such as Robert Macfarlane and Joe Simpson. ''The Guardian'' called it "the finest book ever written on nature and landscape in Britain".<ref>{{Cite web |url=https://foxedquarterly.com/nan-shepherd-justin-marozzi-literary-review/ |title=Nan Shepherd {{!}} Justin Marozzi {{!}} Slightly Foxed literary review |date=2018-12-01 |website=Slightly Foxed |language=en-GB |access-date=2019-11-24}}</ref> Its functions as a memoir and field notes combine with metaphysical nature writing in the tradition of Thoreau or John Muir.{{Citation needed|date=January 2022}} The 2011 Canongate edition included a foreword by Robert Macfarlane and an afterword by Jeanette Winterson,<ref>{{Cite book |last=Shepherd |first=Nan |title=The living mountain : a celebration of the Cairngorm mountains of Scotland |date=2011 |publisher=Canongate |isbn=978-0-85786-183-2 |location=Edinburgh |oclc=778121107}}</ref> these were also included in the 2019 edition by the same publisher.<ref>{{Cite book |last=Shepherd |first=Nan |title=The living mountain |date=2019 |others=Robert Macfarlane, Jeanette Winterson |isbn=978-1-78689-735-0 |location=Great Britain |oclc=1084507268}}</ref> Annabel Abbs retraced Shepherd's steps through the Cairngorms for her book, ''Windswept: Walking in the Footsteps of Trailblazing Women'' (Two Roads, 2021).
===Essays and further poetry=== In the years between the publication of ''In the Cairngorms'' and ''The Living Mountain'', Shepherd placed articles and essays in magazines and journals, including the ''Aberdeen University Review'' and ''The Deeside Field''. A selection of these, with several hitherto unpublished poems, were first collected as ''Wild Geese: A Collection of Nan Shepherd's Writing'', published in 2019 by Galileo Publishers. This includes a short story, "Descent from the Cross", which appeared in the ''Scots Magazine'' in 1943.<ref>{{Cite book |last=Shepherd, Nan |title=Wild geese: a collection of Nan Shepherd's writing |others=Peacock, Charlotte |date=15 October 2023 |isbn=978-1-912916-00-9 |location=Cambridge |oclc=1082137109}}</ref>
==Recognition and legacy== [[File:Makars' Court, Nan Shepherd.jpg|thumb|Nan Shepherd's stone slab outside the Writers' Museum in Edinburgh]] [[File:RBS-Polymer-£5-Front.png|thumb|Nan Shepherd on the Royal Bank of Scotland £5 note]] Shepherd is commemorated in Makars' Court outside the Writers' Museum, in Edinburgh's Lawnmarket. Selections for such commemoration are made by The Writers' Museum, The Saltire Society and The Scottish Poetry Library.
The best-known image of Shepherd is a portrait photograph as a young woman wearing a headband and a brooch on her forehead. Shepherd had decided to have her portrait taken at a local photography studio. Whilst sitting for it, she picked up a length of photographic film, wrapped it round her head on a whim and attached a brooch to it, making her look like a Wagnerian princess. In 2016, this image was adapted as an illustration for a new series of £5 notes issued by the Royal Bank of Scotland.<ref>{{Cite web |title=The Tony McManus Geopoetics Lecture: Nan Shepherd: An Early Geopoet by James McCarthy, Heriot Watt University 18 November 2017 – Scottish Centre for Geopoetics |url=http://www.geopoetics.org.uk/the-tony-mcmanus-geopoetics-lecture-nan-shepherd-an-early-geopoet-by-james-mccarthy-heriot-watt-university-18-november-2017/ |website=www.geopoetics.org.uk |date=23 November 2017 |access-date=10 April 2018}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web |last1=Kelly |first1=David|title=Book review: Into The Mountain: A Life of Nan Shepherd, by Charlotte Peacock |url=https://www.scotsman.com/lifestyle/culture/books/book-review-into-the-mountain-a-life-of-nan-shepherd-by-charlotte-peacock-1-4597045 |website=The Scotsman |access-date=10 April 2018 |language=en |date=26 October 2017}}</ref><ref>{{Cite news |url=https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-scotland-36111759 |title=Novelist and poet Nan Shepherd to appear on RBS £5 note |date=25 April 2016 |work=BBC News |access-date=25 April 2016}}</ref>
In 2017, a commemorative plaque was placed outside her former home, Dunvegan, in the North Deeside Road, Cults.<ref>{{Cite news |url=https://www.pressandjournal.co.uk/fp/news/aberdeen/1271928/plaque-to-be-put-in-place-for-aberdeen-poet-nan-shepherd/ |title=Plaque to be put in place for Aberdeen poet Nan Shepherd |first=Jon |last=Hebditch |work=The Press and Journal |date=June 2017 |access-date=25 November 2020}}</ref>
In 2024, the play ''Nan Shepherd: Naked and Unashamed'', written by Richard Baron and Ellie Zeegen, was produced in association with Kerri Andrews at Pitlochry Festival Theatre, as a co-production with Firebrand Theatre Company. The play tells the story of Shepherd as author, teacher, hillwalker and lover, and explores the 30-years-delay in the publication of her ''The Living Mountain''.<ref name="brooks">{{cite news |last1=Brooks |first1=Libby |title=Play aims to unravel mystery of poet Nan Shepherd's masterwork |url=https://www.theguardian.com/stage/2024/apr/19/play-unravel-mystery-poet-nan-shepherd-masterwork |access-date=20 April 2024 |work=The Guardian |date=19 April 2024}}</ref><ref name="pitlochry">{{cite web |title=Nan Shepherd: Naked and Unashamed |url=https://pitlochryfestivaltheatre.com/whats-on/nan-shepherd-naked-and-unashamed/ |website=pitlochryfestivaltheatre.com |publisher=Pitlochry Festival Theatre |access-date=20 April 2024 |date=2024}}</ref> It had a second run in Pitlochry in May and June 2025, with Susan Coyle in the title role.
===Nan Shepherd Prize=== The Nan Shepherd Prize has been awarded every two years since 2019. "It aims not only to celebrate nature writing but provide an inclusive platform for new and emerging nature writers from underrepresented backgrounds."<ref name="prize-about">{{cite web |title=About |url=https://nanshepherdprize.com/about |website=nanshepherdprize.com |publisher=The Nan Shepherd Prize |access-date=27 September 2024 |language=en}}</ref> The winner receives a publishing deal with Canongate Books, editorial mentoring, and an advance of £10,000.<ref name=prize-about /> {| class="wikitable sortable" |+ Winners of the Nan Shepherd Prize |- ! Year !! Author !! Title |- | 2019<ref>{{cite web |title=2019 prize |url=https://nanshepherdprize.com/2019 |website=nanshepherdprize.com |publisher=The Nan Shepherd Prize |access-date=27 September 2024 |language=en}}</ref> || {{sortname|Nina Mingya|Powles}} || ''Small Bodies of Water'' |- | 2021<ref>{{cite web |title=2021 Prize |url=https://nanshepherdprize.com/2021 |website=nanshepherdprize.com |publisher=The Nan Shepherd Prize |access-date=27 September 2024 |language=en}}</ref> || {{sortname|Marchelle|Farrell}} || ''Uprooting: From the Caribbean to the Countryside – Finding Home in an English Garden'' |- | 2023<ref>{{cite web |title=2023 Prize |url=https://nanshepherdprize.com/2023 |website=nanshepherdprize.com |publisher=The Nan Shepherd Prize |access-date=27 September 2024 |language=en}}</ref> || {{sortname|Alycia | Pirmohamed}} || ''A Beautiful and Vital Place'' |}
===Following Nan=== {{anchor|Following Nan}}The Following Nan project aims "to encourage others to experience the mountains 'Nan Style'", describing this style as: {{blockquote| *To connect (not conquer) *To slow down (not race) *To explore the micro (not just the macro)<ref name=toolkit>{{cite web |title=The Toolkit: Introduction |url=https://followingnanshepherd.wordpress.com/introduction/ |website=Following Nan |access-date=9 January 2025 |language=en |date=6 November 2024}}</ref>}} In September 2024, the project took a group of nine women with mixed abilities and experience on a backpacking expedition in the Cairngorms.<ref>{{cite web |last1=Westhenry |first1=Hannah |title=Following Nan - a slower, deeper style of mountaineering |url=https://alpkit.com/blogs/foundation/following-nan-a-slower-deeper-style-of-mountaineering?srsltid=AfmBOooaEpgDOyrbBpQXwEXQbHMOPBoOnzKFK2lUgh-ZmMnMfhrk-cet |website=Alpkit |access-date=9 January 2025 |language=english |date=11 November 2024}} ''Includes trailer for "To Know A Mountain"''</ref> The film ''To Know A Mountain'', which recorded the expedition, was shown at the 2024 Kendal Mountain Festival<ref>{{cite web |title=To Know A Mountain |url=https://kendalmountainfestival.eventive.org/films/67177ceee1d8ef00aa8650d6 |website=kendalmountainfestival.eventive.org |publisher=Kendal Mountain Festival 2024 |access-date=9 January 2025}}</ref> and selected for the 2025 Pirineos Mountain Film Festival<ref>{{cite web |title=To Know A Mountain |url=https://pirineosmff.com/en/peliculas/to-know-a-mountain/ |website=Pirineos Mountain Film Festival |access-date=9 January 2025 |date=7 January 2025}}</ref> and the 2025 London Mountain Film Festival.<ref>{{cite web |title=2025 Official Selection |url=https://www.londonmountainfestival.com/official-film-selection |publisher=London Mountain Film Festival |access-date=9 January 2025 |language=en}}</ref> The Following Nan project has produced a "toolkit" to help others to follow Shepherd's style of mountaineering.<ref name=toolkit />
==See also== *People on Scottish banknotes
==References== {{reflist}}
==External links== {{wikiquote}} *{{usurped|1=[https://web.archive.org/web/20110526000626/http://www.slainte.org.uk/cilips/publications/scotauth/shephdsw.htm Page on Nan Shepherd at slainte.org]}} *[https://nanshepherdprize.com/about-nan/ The Nan Shepherd Prize – awarded biennially since 2019] *[https://www.scottishpoetrylibrary.org.uk/poet/nan-shepherd/ Scottish Poetry Library – a short biography and bibliography] *{{cite web|title=Nan Shepherd {{!}} Her life and The Living Mountain|date=December 5, 2018|publisher=Scots Radio|via=YouTube|url=https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=26LPM3bJJ58}} *{{cite web |title=BBC The Living Mountain a Cairngorms Journey |date=January 22, 2022 |publisher=Bobbies all about Scotland |via=YouTube |url=https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=70j5uvgVa0Y |access-date=20 October 2022 |archive-date=20 October 2022 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20221020130421/https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=70j5uvgVa0Y |url-status=dead }} {{Authority control}}
{{DEFAULTSORT:Shepherd, Nan}} Category:1893 births Category:1981 deaths Category:Alumni of the University of Aberdeen Category:People educated at Harlaw Academy Category:People from Cults Category:Scottish novelists Category:Scottish Renaissance Category:Scottish women poets Category:20th-century Scottish poets Category:20th-century Scottish novelists Category:Writers from Aberdeen Category:Modernist women writers Category:Scottish nature writers Category:20th-century Scottish women novelists Category:20th-century British women poets Category:Walkers of the United Kingdom