This week I have the pleasure of welcoming Anne McMaster to reflect on her hymn to rural life, Walking Off the Land.

Nigel, thank you so much for welcoming me to this forum, and for giving me the chance to talk about Walking Off the Land, my debut collection of poetry. It was published on the 21st of June 2021 – the summer solstice – which made the event even more special. Much of my writing focuses on nature and the seasons, my memories of growing up on a working farm, and my relationship with the old farm and the land.

“What I stand for is what I stand on,” writes Wendell Berry, and my coming to understand that I did not own the land, but the land owned me was the beginning of a deep love affair with nature and the environment. Working on the farm as…