Pirmohamed's essay collection on 'Muslim queerness' wins £10k Nan Shepherd Prize

Alycia Pirmohamed has been named the third winner of the Nan Shepherd Prize, the biennial prize for underrepresented voices in nature writing. The author will receive a £10,000 publishing contract with Canongate for her essay collection, A Beautiful and Vital Place, and an offer of representation from Caro Clarke at the Portobello Literary Agency.

The winning collection comprises essays about being a queer Muslim girl in the aftermath of 9/11. The synopsis says: "Each piece is deeply rooted in place: Midwestern Canada, the Pacific Northwest, East Africa or the UK to create a love letter to identity and nature, as she seeks to come to terms with these homelands, the landscape, and her own body."

Pirmohamed is the author of the poetry collection Another Way to Split Water (Polygon), and winner of several awards including the Pushcart Prize, the 2019 CBC Poetry Prize and the 2020 Edwin Morgan Poetry Award.

She said: "My book navigates Islamophobia and my experience as a Muslim woman, and it’s more important than ever for our voices to be heard in this political climate."

This year’s judging panel comprised writers Jason Allen-Paisant and Claire Ratinon, Portobello Literary founder Caro Clarke and c.e.o. of the National Centre for Writing Peggy Hughes. Helena Gonda, senior commissioning editor for Canongate, chaired the panel.

On A Beautiful and Vital Place, the judges said: "We all agreed that Alycia’s piece has a poet’s sensibility: full of beautiful, visceral writing. We were drawn to the vulnerability at the heart of the writing and her artistic as well as transnational journey. Showing a real strength in engaging with other texts and concepts, this was anchored by a winningly distinct voice and a perspective of Muslim queerness that felt urgent and fresh."

The prize is run by Canongate’s marketing manager Jamie Norman, managing editor Leila Cruickshank, head of brand Alan Nevens, and editorial assistants Melissa Tombere and Claire Reiderman. They commented: "A Beautiful and Vital Place promises to be a remarkable collection of essays, one that will expand the definition of nature writing, which is exactly what the prize aims to do. We’re delighted that Alycia has won the 2023 Nan Shepherd Prize and are happy to welcome her to Canongate."

Canongate launched the prize in 2019 and found a winner in Nina Mingya Powles’ Small Bodies of Water (Canongate). The 2021 prize was won by Marchelle Farrell, whose debut Uprooting (Canongate) was published in August this year. Creative Scotland, the Scottish Government and the National Lottery’s Open Fund for Organisations supported this year’s prize, funding a series of workshops that took place online and in Edinburgh, Glasgow, Aberdeen, Inverness and Dundee during the submissions period of the prize.