James Rebanks

James Rebanks (born 1974)[1] is an English sheep farmer and author, from Matterdale in Cumbria.[2] His first book, the autobiography The Shepherd's Life, was published in 2015,[3] and he published English Pastoral in 2020.[4][5] He also published The Illustrated Herdwick Shepherd in 2015[6] and The Shepherd's View: Modern Photographs from an Ancient Landscape in 2016.[7]

James Rebanks
Born1974 (age 48–49)
EducationUniversity of Oxford (BA)
AwardsWainwright Prize for Nature Writing (2021)
Writing career
GenrePastoral
Notable worksThe Shepherd's Life

Early life and education

Rebanks left school at the age of 16 to work on his family's farm with two GCSEs in woodworking and religious studies.[3] He took A levels at evening classes in Carlisle before studying at Magdalen College, Oxford,[3][8] where he achieved a double first in history.[9]

Career

Following his degree, Rebanks returned to farming, which he continues to do, specialising in Herdwick sheep but moving towards a more mixed farm. He has also run a consultancy based at his farm.[10][11] He was involved in the bid for the Lake District to receive World Heritage status (which was approved by UNESCO in 2017),[12][13] and as of December 2020 had a following of 141,667 on Twitter as "Herdwick Shepherd" (@herdyshepherd1).

In 2018 he resigned from a government panel set up by Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs Michael Gove, and also took a break from Twitter after the composition of the panel was criticised by environmentalists as being biased towards the farming community.[14]

In 2019 he appeared on BBC Radio 4's Desert Island Discs. His chosen music included tracks by Rachmaninoff, Nina Simone, and Kirsty MacColl (the choice he would rescue from the waves); his chosen book was The Old Man and the Sea by Ernest Hemingway, and his luxury was pen and paper.[1] He has also appeared on BBC Radio 3's Private Passions[15] and Radio 4's On Your Farm.[16] In December 2021 he guest-edited Radio 4's Today programme.[17]

In 2021 English Pastoral won the Wainwright Prize in the Nature Writing category.[18]

Selected publications
  • The Shepherd's Life: A Tale of the Lake District. London: Allen Lane. 2 April 2015. ISBN 978-1846148545.
  • The Illustrated Herdwick Shepherd. London: Penguin Books. 5 November 2015. ISBN 9781846148903.
  • The Shepherd's View: Modern Photographs from an Ancient Landscape. London: Flatiron. 18 October 2016. ISBN 978-1250103369.
  • English Pastoral: an inheritance. London: Allen Lane. 3 September 2020. ISBN 9780241245729. (published in North America as Pastoral Song: A Farmer’s Journey. 3 August 2021. Custom House. ISBN 978-0063073272)

References
  1. "James Rebanks, Shepherd and Writer". Desert Island Discs. BBC Radio 4. 25 January 2019. Retrieved 28 December 2021.
  2. Moran, Caitlin (4 September 2020). "Caitlin Moran meets James Rebanks, Lake District sheep farmer turned Twitter activist". The Times. ISSN 0140-0460. Retrieved 28 December 2021.(subscription required)
  3. Rebanks, James (2 April 2015). The Shepherd's Life: A Tale of the Lake District. London: Allen Lane. ISBN 978-1846148545.
  4. Rebanks, James (3 September 2020). English Pastoral: an inheritance. London: Allen Lane. ISBN 9780241245729.
  5. Morrison, Blake (3 September 2020). "English Pastoral by James Rebanks review – how to look after the land". The Guardian. Retrieved 28 December 2021.
  6. Rebanks, James (5 November 2015). The Illustrated Herdwick Shepherd. London: Penguin Books. ISBN 9781846148903.
  7. Rebanks, James (18 October 2016). The Shepherd's View: Modern Photographs from an Ancient Landscape. London: Flatiron Books. ISBN 978-1250103369.
  8. "James Rebanks: One shepherd and his beloved Herdwick sheep". The Shepherd's Life. BBC Radio 4. Retrieved 28 December 2021. People think travel broadens the mind, I'm not so sure. I think a focus on, and love of, one place can make people rather sensible, decent, and wise
  9. Carter, Helen (2 May 2015). "The farmer and best-selling author of The Shepherd's Life talks about dealing with new-found fame". The Independent. Retrieved 28 December 2021.
  10. "About us". Rebanks Consulting Ltd. Archived from the original on 27 March 2016.
  11. Kellaway, Kate (3 May 2015). "Shepherd James Rebanks: 'My ambition is to be a really good nobody'". The Guardian. Retrieved 28 December 2021.
  12. Fraser, Harriet (8 March 2014). "The hill farmers fighting for their livelihoods". The Daily Telegraph. Retrieved 28 December 2021.(subscription required)
  13. Sulcas, Roslyn (5 June 2015). "James Rebanks, Man of Sheep, Man of Letters (Published 2015)". The New York Times. ISSN 0362-4331. Retrieved 28 December 2021.(subscription required)
  14. "Twitter's favourite shepherd quits government review of National Parks after three days due to 'cretinous attacks' from environmentalists". The Daily Telegraph. 24 June 2018. Retrieved 28 December 2021.(subscription required)
  15. "James Rebanks". Private Passions. BBC Radio 3. 21 March 2021. Retrieved 28 December 2021.
  16. "James Rebanks, the Herdy Shepherd". On Your Farm. BBC Radio 4. 10 May 2015. Retrieved 28 December 2021.
  17. "Today". BBC Radio 4. 28 December 2021. Retrieved 28 December 2021.
  18. Flood, Alison (7 September 2021). "Wainwright prize for nature writing goes to James Rebanks for English Pastoral". The Guardian. Retrieved 28 December 2021.
This article is issued from Wikipedia. The text is licensed under Creative Commons - Attribution - Sharealike. Additional terms may apply for the media files.