Robert Macfarlane

Robert Macfarlane is a British author and academic whose lyrical, thought-provoking books about landscape, nature, and language have made him one of the most important and influential nature writers of the twenty-first century. His work explores the deep connections between people and places, and the ways in which language shapes our understanding of the natural world. Born in 1976, Macfarlane was educated at the University of Nottingham and Emmanuel College, Cambridge, where he is now a Fellow and teaches English Literature. His academic background in literature, combined with an adventurer's love of wild places, gives his writing a unique combination of intellectual rigour and physical immediacy. His first book, Mountains of the Mind, published in 2003, won the Guardian First Book Award and the Somerset Maugham Award. The book traces humanity's changing relationship with mountains — from feared wastelands to sublime destinations — and combines history, memoir, and scientific inquiry in a style that would become Macfarlane's trademark. The Wild Places (2007) chronicles his journeys to the remotest landscapes of Britain and Ireland. The Old Ways (2012) follows ancient paths — pilgrimage routes, drove roads, sea paths, and desire lines — and explores how walking connects us to landscape and history. Landmarks (2015) is an extraordinary exploration of the language of landscape, celebrating the words we have for the natural world and mourning those we are losing. Underland (2019), about the worlds beneath our feet — caves, catacombs, glaciers, nuclear waste repositories — won the Wainwright Prize and was a major international bestseller. The book is a masterpiece of nature writing that extends Macfarlane's exploration of landscape to its most extreme depths. His children's books, The Lost Words and The Lost Spells, created with the illustrator Jackie Morris, have been beloved bestsellers that celebrate the language of nature for young readers. The audiobook editions of Macfarlane's books are beautiful, with narration that captures the lyrical quality and wonder of his prose. His writing is ideally suited to audio — rhythmic, evocative, and immersive. Robert Macfarlane lives in Cambridge. His books and audiobooks are essential for anyone who wants to see the landscape — and the language we use to describe it — with fresh, wondering eyes.