SHORTLISTED FOR THE WAINWRIGHT PRIZE FOR NATURE WRITING AND THE BOARDMAN TASKER AWARD FOR MOUNTAIN LITERATURE

In Time on Rock Anna Fleming charts two parallel journeys: learning the craft of traditional rock climbing, and the new developing appreciation of the natural world it brings her. Through the story of her progress from terrified beginner to confident lead climber, she shows us how placing hand and foot on rock becomes a profound new way into the landscape.

Anna takes us from the gritstone rocks of the Peak District and Yorkshire to the gabbro pinnacles of the Cuillin, the slate of North Wales and the high plateau of the Cairngorms. Each landscape, and each type of rock, brings its own challenges and unique pleasures. She also shows us how climbing invites us into the history of a place: geologically, of course, but also culturally.

This book is Anna's journey of self-discovery, but it is also a guide to losing oneself in the greater majesty of the natural world. With great lyricism she explores how it feels to climb as a woman, the pleasures of the physical demands of climbing, fear and challenge, but more than anything, it is about a joyful connection to the mountains.

About the Author

Anna Fleming is a regular contributor to Caught by the River and has also published her work in various journals, magazines and anthologies. As well as writing for the Guardian, she keeps a blog, The Granite Sea, in which she writes about her experiences of the natural world. Anna is a qualified Mountain Leader who has also worked for the Cairngorms National Park Authority and completed a PhD with the University of Leeds. She lives in Edinburgh.

@annamfleming | thegranitesea.wordpress.com

Reviews
Refreshing . . . she writes beautifully about landscape, and her passion for these ancient formations is physical and poetic * * Observer * *
Fleming has written a wonderfully intimate account of climbing, filled with the rough texture of rocks and the hard-won elation of reaching for the skies * * Guardian * *
Beautifully written. I loved it -- AMY LIPTROT
Echoing and honouring some of the classics of climbing literature, the book is a fine introduction to the genre * * Economist * *
[Anna Fleming]'s fascination with language infuses her descriptions of the textures of various stones and the mountains they form. In this regard, Time on Rock can take its place next to Nan Shepherd's The Living Mountain . . . Fleming's book is full of awe and wonder . . . Vital * * Spectator * *
Engaging . . . Refreshing . . . Anna Fleming immerses herself in the mountains rather than conquering them. Like a climber scanning the crags for the next line, I'm left wanting to read more of her work * * Times Literary Supplement * *
Climbing writing is a crowded field, but thanks to its carefully chiselled prose and bright, flinty intelligence, this absolute gem of a book . . . can hold its own against the most famous names in the pantheon * * Scotsman * *
A climber's joy of insight and adventure -- ALASTAIR McINTOSH
It reminds me of Nan Shepherd, only the kind of Nan Shepherd I could go for a pint with -- HELEN MORT * * author of Black Car Burning * *
Much more than a climbing memoir, Anna Fleming's book is also a fascinating exploration of humanity's timeless relationship with rock . . . both fascinating and beautifully expressed, in a series of glinting, lyrical epiphanies * * Scotsman * *


Awards
Short-listed for Wainwright Prize for Nature Writing 2022 (UK) and Boardman Tasker Award for Mountain Literature 2022 (UK).



Book Information
ISBN 9781838851767
Author Anna Fleming
Format Hardback
Page Count 272
Imprint Canongate Books
Publisher Canongate Books
Weight(grams) 388g
Dimensions(mm) 220mm * 144mm * 27mm