Congratulations to all! I too was super grateful for the chance to contribute some words and delighted to have made long list. My inspiration came the different landscapes and the way they guided me to a more meaningful future. But it was also the opportunity to create a new recovery narrative, one that exists beyond the clinical setting, in the heart of wild places, one that hopefully will make sense and guide others.
Well done Bel! And thanks for sharing your inspiration. It’s lovely to get that sense that you’ve been guided to a more meaningful future by nature. I so adore the idea of you creating a new recovery narrative beyond clinical settings. So powerful!
Delighted to see my piece on this list and with some very fine company! My piece was one of the first things I wrote as part of my move away from academic writing and back towards the creative nonfiction I so loved to write as a child / teenager. I wanted to capture the weirdness of labour, the thinness of places, and where we make meaning. Or where meaning happens to us. This longlist is especially touching as I'm working on the difficult second book, along side my beautiful second baby and second guessing myself at every stage!
I’m so glad to hear you’re delighted, Joanna. And how wonderful to have this validation for your return to the creative nonfiction you loved to write! That place of second guessing can be challenging and I hope this helps you galvanise your confidence, or help you make a more empowered meaning of things!
Ahh! Joy, gratitude, hope! I am in awe of the diversity of writing and nature-infused pieces that were submitted. My thanks to Gabriela and Lucia for their careful/loving readings of everyone’s work and a big squeeze to everyone who took part in the contest. I’ll finish up with recognition of my hummingbird guide(s). The journey is long, but if we remain light and in tune with our inner compass, we can return as often as we need to complete our journey.
Thanks for your lovely comment Kristy. Yes, so much awe to feel at all these entries. It’s beautiful for you to share a little honour for your hummingbird guides, and I like how you reference the fact that the journey doesn’t have to be undertaken in one go, but something we can return to over and over.
Wow, this made my day thank you! Congratulations to everyone on the long list. My inspiration came from interrogating the question I’ve always asked myself: ‘why right do I have to speak?’ - when I took my question out to the more-than-human world, their answers were loud and clear. That’s what I wrote about. Looking forward to reading everyone else’s work on the theme. ❤️
I’m so thrilled this made your day Lynne - and I know that juicy feeling! What an interesting question to ask, and I love that you took the question to the more-than-human world. It will be a beautiful world indeed when more people are inspired to do the same.
What an impressive long list, I was surprised and absolutely delighted to find my entry at the very end. The theme spoke to me immediately. Every time I spend time alone in nature I'm always humbled by her wisdom and ability to recover, heal, regenerate and transform. I write poems to understand and deepen the experiences I have, as a way to stay with nature's medicine for longer. The two poems I chose to enter are related, the first one explores all the reflections and realisations I had on my first guided 4-hour nature solo on the edge of Standish Woods. The experience was so moving and illuminating, it led me to go on a wilderness quest, where I spent 4 days and 4 nights alone in nature. The second poem is written about my time in wilds of Dartmoor, as nature held me while I faced my greatest fears and listened to the whispers on the breeze. Nothing has brought me back to myself, and my body, in the way the quest did. My entry was in recognition and appreciation of nature's transformative effects, as my future has been re-written by the wild.
Chloé, I'm so pleased to hear of your delight at being longlisted. It makes sense to me that the theme spoke to you as your two poems were very much aligned with what I've come to see at the values of Wild Muse and what I want the writing here to convey. The way you talk about your poems as a way to stay with nature's medicine for longer completely resonates. I often have experiences when I write about my time in nature where putting the words together even deepens the medicine. Well done to you.
It was really lovely to read about all the shortlisted pieces and how hard it was to choose them. Everyone who took the time to write a piece deserves celebrating. I am really looking forward to reading more of them as they are shared.
I also greatly appreciate that my piece was one of those shortlisted. It took me a while to express how much the place I wrote about means to me and my family and the delicate but profound ways it has shaped me. Places profoundly influence us. I’d love to hear more about how they have shaped others.
Aw, Jacqui, this line really touched me - ‘Everyone who took the time to write a piece deserves celebrating.’
I‘m touched by the effort you made to describe what place means to you and your family. The more people share the delicate but profound ways it has shaped them, the more others will find their way.
I'm thrilled and shocked to be included on the long list given the number and quality of the entries! I look forward to reading them all. My goal was to meet the theme by subverting it slightly, asking what we can do for nature rather than what nature can do for us. Healing is a dynamic and often mutual process, and my hope was to put humanity back in the picture as a source of healing as well as a recipient of it.
Congratulations to all the longlisted writers, whose essays I would love to read, and thank you for including my piece, 'Forest Bathing'. This is a great confidence boost as I return to my non-fiction practice after a long break!
Thanks for sharing Flo. It must feel so validating for you seeing as you’ve had that long break. The signs are pretty clear. Your non-fiction practice has welcomed you back with open arms!
Wow, I am delighted and absolutely over the moon to see that my piece has made the long list. Nature has been such an important part of my life so I took a number of weeks to let ideas mull over in my mind. I knew the concept that I wanted to achieve so when it came to writing, I felt like I was channeling the words gained from past experiences I have lived and breathed. Ultimately, I wanted the piece to be simple yet powerfully profound because that's exactly what nature is to me. I hope it touches others and captures their imagination in the same way.
Teresa, I'm happy to hear that you are over the moon! I love this insight into your process - that you let your ideas mull for a while, and that essentially you were channelling the words gained from experiences that you'd had in the past. Your aim to create something simple yet profound was absolutely realised! Bravo to you!
I remember writing my piece, knowing I had something here but wrestling with the fact that I didn't have time to work this piece and polish it! I was so late, barely made it to the deadline! So, when I see that the longlist is out, I know that my work could not have made it....
As I scroll through the entries that did make it, my heart sinks at the brilliance and the beauty of those who have made it! Of course mine hasn't.... (And like Gabriela says: "...often been hit by that squeeze of disappointment on not seeing my name included....")
To then see that my entry did make the longlist, is indescribable. I'm here at a coffee shop crying like I've been nominated for the Oscar.
Thank you thank you Gabriela and Lucia for painstakingly putting this together. Thank you for your kindness. My salaam and gratitude for everything. Three cheers for all those who sent in an entry.
Vinitha, what a gorgeous share! And how wonderful that you did make the deadline. I can totally feel you, in your coffee shop, crying like you've been nominated for the Oscar. I really know what that feels like, and I'm so happy that this prize longlist gave you that feeling. Three cheers for you and everyone else who entered.
Surprise, gratitude, joy to find myself here, among so many wonderful writers sharing their hearts. Celebrating everyone who has bravely shared their words. I have loved reading every one of the extracts in this post. Thank you, Gabriela, for creating this space and opportunity, and for bringing together diverse voices united through deep relationship with the natural world. I look forward to reading more extracts as you share them and appreciate your openness too in conveying behind the scenes of the process and your reflections. The essay I submitted is inspired by many years navigating through depression, the enduring impact of time spent living on the desert coast of Namibia, and a passion and awe for the deep ocean with all its unknowns and the discoveries that challenge what we thought we knew.
Thank you for your gorgeous, warm response, Nicky. I’m delighted you loved reading every one of the extracts in this post. It’s great to have you share a little more context for the piece. The enduring impact of the time you spent living on the desert coast of Namibia certainly came through.
What a lovely post. Thank you for your openness in sharing about the longlisting process, and understanding of the challenges of submitting writing, not knowing if it will be met with rejection or recognition. Wonderful to be able to read excerpts showing the wide range of topics in the longlist. Delighted to find the list included my piece, which was prompted by thinking about an unexpected house move in the context of what I was learning about ‘home’ in the birding world.
Hi Roslyn, I am glad you appreciated knowing about the longlisting process. It felt important to share as much of this as I could. I'm happy to hear of your delight. It's also fascinating to hear more about what prompted this piece. Thank you and congratulations.
Congratulations to all! I too was super grateful for the chance to contribute some words and delighted to have made long list. My inspiration came the different landscapes and the way they guided me to a more meaningful future. But it was also the opportunity to create a new recovery narrative, one that exists beyond the clinical setting, in the heart of wild places, one that hopefully will make sense and guide others.
Well done Bel! And thanks for sharing your inspiration. It’s lovely to get that sense that you’ve been guided to a more meaningful future by nature. I so adore the idea of you creating a new recovery narrative beyond clinical settings. So powerful!
Congratulations to everyone who entered! Doing this is so brave! Wishing everyone love!
Dee, you really put your finger on it. This does require such bravery. This was something that struck me over and over when I was reading the entries.
🙏🏻🙏🏻🙏🏻 I think, entering is a greatest and most personal win!
Delighted to see my piece on this list and with some very fine company! My piece was one of the first things I wrote as part of my move away from academic writing and back towards the creative nonfiction I so loved to write as a child / teenager. I wanted to capture the weirdness of labour, the thinness of places, and where we make meaning. Or where meaning happens to us. This longlist is especially touching as I'm working on the difficult second book, along side my beautiful second baby and second guessing myself at every stage!
I’m so glad to hear you’re delighted, Joanna. And how wonderful to have this validation for your return to the creative nonfiction you loved to write! That place of second guessing can be challenging and I hope this helps you galvanise your confidence, or help you make a more empowered meaning of things!
Ahh! Joy, gratitude, hope! I am in awe of the diversity of writing and nature-infused pieces that were submitted. My thanks to Gabriela and Lucia for their careful/loving readings of everyone’s work and a big squeeze to everyone who took part in the contest. I’ll finish up with recognition of my hummingbird guide(s). The journey is long, but if we remain light and in tune with our inner compass, we can return as often as we need to complete our journey.
Thanks for your lovely comment Kristy. Yes, so much awe to feel at all these entries. It’s beautiful for you to share a little honour for your hummingbird guides, and I like how you reference the fact that the journey doesn’t have to be undertaken in one go, but something we can return to over and over.
Wow, this made my day thank you! Congratulations to everyone on the long list. My inspiration came from interrogating the question I’ve always asked myself: ‘why right do I have to speak?’ - when I took my question out to the more-than-human world, their answers were loud and clear. That’s what I wrote about. Looking forward to reading everyone else’s work on the theme. ❤️
I’m so thrilled this made your day Lynne - and I know that juicy feeling! What an interesting question to ask, and I love that you took the question to the more-than-human world. It will be a beautiful world indeed when more people are inspired to do the same.
Ha apologies for typos, “what right do I have to speak?” is what I meant to say! It’s been one of those days 🤔
Congratulations to all who made the long list. Thank you, Gabriela, for sharing and for the Wild Muse Nature Writing Prize opportunity.
That’s so thoughtful of you Frances. Thanks for your kind words.
What an impressive long list, I was surprised and absolutely delighted to find my entry at the very end. The theme spoke to me immediately. Every time I spend time alone in nature I'm always humbled by her wisdom and ability to recover, heal, regenerate and transform. I write poems to understand and deepen the experiences I have, as a way to stay with nature's medicine for longer. The two poems I chose to enter are related, the first one explores all the reflections and realisations I had on my first guided 4-hour nature solo on the edge of Standish Woods. The experience was so moving and illuminating, it led me to go on a wilderness quest, where I spent 4 days and 4 nights alone in nature. The second poem is written about my time in wilds of Dartmoor, as nature held me while I faced my greatest fears and listened to the whispers on the breeze. Nothing has brought me back to myself, and my body, in the way the quest did. My entry was in recognition and appreciation of nature's transformative effects, as my future has been re-written by the wild.
Chloé, I'm so pleased to hear of your delight at being longlisted. It makes sense to me that the theme spoke to you as your two poems were very much aligned with what I've come to see at the values of Wild Muse and what I want the writing here to convey. The way you talk about your poems as a way to stay with nature's medicine for longer completely resonates. I often have experiences when I write about my time in nature where putting the words together even deepens the medicine. Well done to you.
Congratulations everyone who made the long list! beautiful writing!
Thank you for this generous comment, Peter! I’m glad to hear that you appreciated the writing.
It was really lovely to read about all the shortlisted pieces and how hard it was to choose them. Everyone who took the time to write a piece deserves celebrating. I am really looking forward to reading more of them as they are shared.
I also greatly appreciate that my piece was one of those shortlisted. It took me a while to express how much the place I wrote about means to me and my family and the delicate but profound ways it has shaped me. Places profoundly influence us. I’d love to hear more about how they have shaped others.
Aw, Jacqui, this line really touched me - ‘Everyone who took the time to write a piece deserves celebrating.’
I‘m touched by the effort you made to describe what place means to you and your family. The more people share the delicate but profound ways it has shaped them, the more others will find their way.
I'm thrilled and shocked to be included on the long list given the number and quality of the entries! I look forward to reading them all. My goal was to meet the theme by subverting it slightly, asking what we can do for nature rather than what nature can do for us. Healing is a dynamic and often mutual process, and my hope was to put humanity back in the picture as a source of healing as well as a recipient of it.
Thanks for sharing Lindsay. I was definitely very impacted by your subversion of the theme. You’re right about the mutual process. Well done.
Congratulations to all the longlisted writers, whose essays I would love to read, and thank you for including my piece, 'Forest Bathing'. This is a great confidence boost as I return to my non-fiction practice after a long break!
Thanks for sharing Flo. It must feel so validating for you seeing as you’ve had that long break. The signs are pretty clear. Your non-fiction practice has welcomed you back with open arms!
Wow, I am delighted and absolutely over the moon to see that my piece has made the long list. Nature has been such an important part of my life so I took a number of weeks to let ideas mull over in my mind. I knew the concept that I wanted to achieve so when it came to writing, I felt like I was channeling the words gained from past experiences I have lived and breathed. Ultimately, I wanted the piece to be simple yet powerfully profound because that's exactly what nature is to me. I hope it touches others and captures their imagination in the same way.
Teresa, I'm happy to hear that you are over the moon! I love this insight into your process - that you let your ideas mull for a while, and that essentially you were channelling the words gained from experiences that you'd had in the past. Your aim to create something simple yet profound was absolutely realised! Bravo to you!
I remember writing my piece, knowing I had something here but wrestling with the fact that I didn't have time to work this piece and polish it! I was so late, barely made it to the deadline! So, when I see that the longlist is out, I know that my work could not have made it....
As I scroll through the entries that did make it, my heart sinks at the brilliance and the beauty of those who have made it! Of course mine hasn't.... (And like Gabriela says: "...often been hit by that squeeze of disappointment on not seeing my name included....")
To then see that my entry did make the longlist, is indescribable. I'm here at a coffee shop crying like I've been nominated for the Oscar.
Thank you thank you Gabriela and Lucia for painstakingly putting this together. Thank you for your kindness. My salaam and gratitude for everything. Three cheers for all those who sent in an entry.
Vinitha, what a gorgeous share! And how wonderful that you did make the deadline. I can totally feel you, in your coffee shop, crying like you've been nominated for the Oscar. I really know what that feels like, and I'm so happy that this prize longlist gave you that feeling. Three cheers for you and everyone else who entered.
Surprise, gratitude, joy to find myself here, among so many wonderful writers sharing their hearts. Celebrating everyone who has bravely shared their words. I have loved reading every one of the extracts in this post. Thank you, Gabriela, for creating this space and opportunity, and for bringing together diverse voices united through deep relationship with the natural world. I look forward to reading more extracts as you share them and appreciate your openness too in conveying behind the scenes of the process and your reflections. The essay I submitted is inspired by many years navigating through depression, the enduring impact of time spent living on the desert coast of Namibia, and a passion and awe for the deep ocean with all its unknowns and the discoveries that challenge what we thought we knew.
Thank you for your gorgeous, warm response, Nicky. I’m delighted you loved reading every one of the extracts in this post. It’s great to have you share a little more context for the piece. The enduring impact of the time you spent living on the desert coast of Namibia certainly came through.
Thank you again Gabriela for sharing pieces of these entries. They were beautiful touching and poignant.
As always you inspire my soul and give my heart wings to soar,
Pame Roscoe
Yay, how lovely to hear your soul has been inspired!
What a lovely post. Thank you for your openness in sharing about the longlisting process, and understanding of the challenges of submitting writing, not knowing if it will be met with rejection or recognition. Wonderful to be able to read excerpts showing the wide range of topics in the longlist. Delighted to find the list included my piece, which was prompted by thinking about an unexpected house move in the context of what I was learning about ‘home’ in the birding world.
Hi Roslyn, I am glad you appreciated knowing about the longlisting process. It felt important to share as much of this as I could. I'm happy to hear of your delight. It's also fascinating to hear more about what prompted this piece. Thank you and congratulations.