Windswept: Author Annabel Abbs-Street in Conversation with Catherine Staples

Annabel Abbs-Streets shares her new book, Windswept: Walking the Paths of Trailblazing Women, a beautifully written meditation on connecting with the outdoors through the simple act of walking.

In captivating and elegant prose, Annabel follows in the footsteps of women who boldly reclaimed wild landscapes for themselves, including Georgia O’Keeffe in the empty plains of Texas and New Mexico, Nan Shepherd in the mountains of Scotland, Gwen John following the French River Garonne, Daphne du Maurier along the River Rhône, and Simone de Beauvoir―who walked as much as twenty-five miles a day in a dress and espadrilles―through the mountains and forests of France.

Part historical inquiry and part memoir, the stories of these writers and artists are laced together by moments in her own life, beginning with her poet father who raised her in the Welsh countryside as an “experiment,” according to the principles of Rousseau. Annabel explores a forgotten legacy of moving on foot and discovers how it has helped women throughout history to find their voices, to reimagine their lives, and to break free from convention.As Annabel traces the paths of exceptional women, she realizes that she, too, is walking away from her past and into a radically different future. Windswept crosses continents and centuries in a provocative and poignant account of the power of walking in nature.

Annabel will be joined in conversation by Catherine Staples.

Annabel Abbs-Streets is an award-winning author and journalist. She writes regularly for a wide range of newspapers and magazines and lives in London, with her husband and four children.

Catherine Staples is the author of Vert (Mercer University Press), The Rattling Window (The Ashland Poetry Press), and Never a Note Forfeit (Seven Kitchens Press). Staples grew up in Dover, MA and lives in Devon, PA. She teaches in the Honors and English programs at Villanova University, and she serves on the board of the Thoreau Society.