Way Makers - by Kerri Andrews (Hardcover)

Book Synopsis

A sweeping collection of women's writing on the wandering path, moving across genres, geographies, and centuries.

The follow-up to the celebrated Wanderers, Kerri Andrews's Way Makers is the first anthology of women's writing about walking. Moving from Elizabeth Carter's correspondence with Catherine Talbot in the eighteenth century through to Merryn Glover in the present day, and across poetry, letters, diaries, novels, and more, this anthology traces a long tradition of women's walking literature. Walking is, for the women included in this anthology, a source of creativity and comfort; it is a means of expressing grief, longing, and desire. It is also a complicated activity: it represents freedom but is also sometimes tinged with danger and fear. What cannot be denied any longer is that walking was, and continues to be, an activity full of physical and emotional significance for women: this anthology is a testament to the rich literary heritage created by generations of women walker-writers over the centuries.

Review Quotes

"Andrews's Way Makers: An Anthology of Women's Writing About Walking explores women and walking, presenting a collection of works that incorporate the act of walking as a central theme. . . . Ultimately, Way Makers should appeal to readers familiar with Andrews's work or those interested in finding new themes and lenses through which to present women's history."-- "H-Environment: "

"As this anthology--the first of women's writing about walking--shows, social assumptions about ladylike behavior, the dangers of being alone and about women's physical abilities have complicated this expression of freedom in a way rarely experienced by men. At the same time, the journals of Dorothy Wordsworth, the diaries of Virginia Woolf, the exquisite prose of Nan Shepherd's The Living Mountain and Simone de Beauvoir's fearless solo hikes in the south of France testify to the spirit and exhilaration with which these writers walked. There's so much to savor here."-- "Spectrum"

"Indeed, although anthologies of walking have been appearing in bookshops since at least the early 1900s, Andrews' Way Makers: an Anthology of Women's Writing about Walking is the first to emphasize women's contributions. Bringing together 75 works across numerous genres from the eighteenth century through the present day, Way Makers stands as a testament to women's longstanding creative engagement with the deceptively simple practice of walking. Although the first of its kind in some ways, Way Makers joins a small but rich body of popular literary histories of walking that attend to women's experience. . . . Way Makers offers a welcoming, meditative exploration of the complex and often contradictory meanings that can emerge when women take to the road or the trail. . . . An eminently readable volume. . . . Ultimately, Way Makers is sure to provide scholarly and casual readers alike with a fresh perspective on what it means to move through the world on foot. Andrews has given us an invigorating look at what the literature of women's walking has to offer, and I hope this volume will inspire others to follow in her footsteps."-- "Women's Writing"

"An anthology that celebrates the literary heritage created by generations of women walker-writers."-- "Scottish Wildlife Magazine"

"Way Makers offers a wonderful array of excerpts from prose and poetry spanning 400 years, assembled by Andrews. Women walk for necessity as well as fun, to see the world, rejoice in nature and experience the awe of new vistas. Overall these pieces conjure an exhilarating sense of the freedom conferred on women by walking, despite the dangers and challenges."-- "Tablet"

"'This anthology is a start. May it not be the end, ' Andrews writes, before tracing the long literary heritage of Gwen John, Virginia Woolf, Cheryl Strayed, Camille T. Dungy and others across countries, genres and centuries."-- "Globe and Mail"

"A lovely book to dip into and out of, it collects work from women who have written about walking, from the 1700s through to today. Think poetry, journals, fiction, from Mary Wollstonecraft, Virginia Woolf, Mary Shelley to Cheryl Strayed and Sarah Moss."-- "Toronto Star"

"Way Makers is a scintillating and exciting collection of women's voices."--Katharine Norbury, author of "The Fish Ladder"

"From the eighteenth century to the present day, and taking in poetry, letters, diaries, novels and more, this anthology traces the long tradition of women writing about walking. Among the many writers included are Mary Wollstonecraft, Jane Austen, Raynor Winn, Cheryl Strayed, Sarah Moss and Polly Atkin."-- "Bookseller"

"Lays claim to being 'the first anthology of women's writing about walking.' . . . Andrews's groundbreaking Way Makers--stretching to around 300 pages with more than 70 entries spanning the centuries--is, she says, 'a small sample' of female words on walking. In its introduction she concludes: 'This anthology is a start. May it not be the end.'"-- "Sunday Post, Scotland"

About the Author

Kerri Andrews is a reader in women's literature and textual editing at Edge Hill University. She is the author of Wanderers: A History of Women Walking, also published by Reaktion Books, and has written for the Guardian, Trail magazine, and others. She lives in Peebles, Scotland.