On 8 March Gilbert White’s House & Gardens in Hampshire will welcome six well known nature writers for the first Watching Narrowly natural history book festival.
Writers in conversation at Watching Narrowly will include best-selling authors Richard Mabey and Chloe Dalton.
The village of Selborne, home to the 18th Century naturalist Gilbert White, whose work has inspired generations of nature writers from Charles Darwin to David Attenbourgh, is also thought of by many as the home of nature writing. White’s book The Natural History of Selborne has been in print since it was published in 1789 making it one of the most published books in the English language.
On the 8th March, Gilbert White’s House will be host to some of our best contemporary nature writers for a one of a kind book festival. The event is being organised in partnership with independent Petersfield bookshop One Tree Books who will be on hand selling a good selection of natural history books.
Opening the proceedings will be butterfly expert Matthew Oates. Matthew writes regularly for Nature Notebook in The Times, and has published several books, notably His Imperial Majesty, a natural history of the Purple Emperor and In Pursuit of Butterflies. He lived around Selborne for twenty formative years before moving to Gloucestershire to work as an ecologist for the National Trust. Known also for his appearances on TV, radio and in podcasts, Matthew Oates newest book, a beginner’s guide to British butterflies, will be published via National Trust Books and Harper Collins on March 13th.
Our second speaker is Simon Martin, curator, writer, art historian and Head of Collections and Exhibitions at Pallant House Gallery in Chichester where he is responsible for the collection of Modern British and contemporary art and the programme of temporary exhibitions. For his book Drawn to Nature, Simon gathered (and commissioned) joyful and beautiful images of the dazzling array of wildlife described by Gilbert White, sharing insight and new perspectives on the Natural History as seen through the eyes of artists over more than two centuries. His account takes us from some of the earliest published depictions of birds and animals, to pioneering nature photography, wood-engravings of the 1920s and 30s, and contemporary illustrators. The book also includes an introduction to the life of Gilbert White by Sir David Attenborough, an essay by Virginia Woolf, poems by modern and contemporary poets, and a jacket design by Mark Hearld.
The museum is delighted to welcome Chloe Dalton to Watching Narrowly, her first visit to Selborne. Chloe burst onto the nature writing scene in 2024 with the remarkable true story Raising Hare, her debut book after a decade working in Parliament and as a special adviser to the Foreign Secretary focused on human rights and international justice. She lives between London and her home in the countryside in the north of England. Raising Hare is a beautifully observed account of a leveret’s development to adulthood. Chloe Dalton’s experience of studying a hare at close quarters and within a relationship of trust – as it comes and goes freely from the wild – stands as an appeal for better understanding, appreciation and protection for these beautiful creatures and the habitats in which they thrive. Raising Hare was an instant success: Sunday Times Bestseller, 2024 Hay Festival Book of the Year, and a BBC Radio 4 Book of the Week.
Joining the festival remotely will be revered natural history writer (and authority on Gilbert White) Richard Mabey. After studying at Oxford University, Richard worked in Further Education before becoming a Senior Editor at Penguin Books. A full-time writer since 1974, he is the author of some thirty books, including The Cabaret of Plants: Botany and the Imagination (2015), and Whistling in the Dark: In Pursuit of the Nightingale (1993), winner of the East Anglia Book Award, 2010, in a revised version entitled The Barley Bird, Beechcombings: the narratives of Trees (2007), the ground-breaking and best-selling “cultural flora” Flora Britannica (1996), winner of a National Book Award, and Gilbert White, which won the Whitbread Biography Award in 1986,. His recent memoir Nature Cure (2005), which describes how reconnecting with the wild helped him break free from debilitating depression, was short-listed for three major literary awards, the Whitbread, Ondaatje, and J.R. Ackerley prizes. His latest book is Turning the Boat for Home (2019). He writes for the Guardian, New Statesman and Granta, and contributes frequently to BBC radio.
Roger Morgan-Grenville started his working life as a soldier in the Royal Green Jackets (1978-1986), serving on five continents, working in counter-terrorism operations and leading the first expedition successfully to retrace Shackleton’s route across South Georgia. He then continued his travels, visiting more than 30 countries in over 25 years leading a small trading company. In 2018, he decided to turn his skills to the restoration of nature through writing, public speaking and campaigning. In 2020, Roger was a founder member and first chair of trustees of the conservation charity, Curlew Action, having previously also helped found the military charity, Help for Heroes. In the spring of 2022 he walked 1,000 miles through Britain from Lymington on the Solent to Cape Wrath, assessing the state of British nature as he went and meeting people working to restore it, a story told in Across a Waking Land, leading to reviews naming him ‘one of Britain’s leading conservationists’.
Finally, Professor Paul Rodhouse will be discussing his new work Antarctic Whaling: A Case Study in Near Extinction. Paul developed his interests in natural history and art growing up in Hampshire. After completing a PhD in biological oceanography, he held scientific positions in Ireland and New York, and then joined the British Antarctic Survey as a research scientist and later head of biological sciences and board member. He is now a BAS emeritus fellow and a member of the South Georgia Association executive committee. He is president of the Cambridge Drawing Society and paints the Antarctic and other marine subjects in his Cambridge studio. Paul’s book is a definitive study demonstrating how the world whale population has now returned to the level it was at in 1900.
A day ticket to Watching Narrowly includes entry to this historic house and gardens, with a chance to see our permanent collections including the original manuscript of the The Natural History of Selborne on display in the very place it was written and surrounded by the landscape that inspired it. Tickets are £50 for a day packed with interest and inspiration, with discounts for members of Gilbert White’s House & Gardens and those Under 21.