404 Ink lands collection of nature writing by women of colour

Independent publisher 404 Ink has landed Gathering, an essay anthology of nature writing by women of colour from across the UK. 

Publisher Laura Jones acquired world rights to the anthology, which is edited by Durre Shahwar and Nasia Sarwar-Skuse. The collection  will be published in early 2024.

The idea was born when Shahwar undertook a residency with National Theatre Wales to explore what the Welsh landscape meant to her as a South Asian woman. She reflected on the ways in which it could be a site for identity and home-making beyond predetermined markers of "Welshness".

Gathering marks the publisher’s return to anthologies following 2017’s feminist essay collection Nasty Women, 2018’s graphic novel anthology We Shall Fight Until We Win, also featuring Shahwar, in partnership with BHP Comics, and 2019’s Queer Words Project Scotland collection We Were Always Here.

The new collection features essays on the intersections of nature writing with neurodiversity, capitalism, mental health, academia, music, colonialism, religion, cancer and the immigrant experience. Contributors include filmmaker Kandace Siobhan Walker, Edwin Morgan Poetry Award-winner Alycia Pirmohamed, Burnt Roti founder Sharan Dhaliwal, and Nadia Javed, a member of band The Tuts.

It is partially funded by the Books Council of Wales. The editors and publisher will add more writers to the line-up in the coming year.

"The personal essay is the perfect form to challenge and celebrate nature writing through different perspectives and I’m excited to broaden that conversation with other women of colour through this anthology," Shahwar said. "It was important for us to publish Gathering with a publisher that understands the nuances and intersections of this book and I am confident that it is in good hands with 404 Ink."

Jones added: "Anthologies are what kickstarted 404 Ink into being and after a brief break it’s great to be returning to the format in 2024 with Gathering. It’s well-known that nature writing has a very white, very male legacy and we’re happy to be supporting Durre and Nasia to correct this balance by putting women of colour in the forefront of this discussion of nature, one of humanity’s most universal yet individual shared experiences."

The full list of contributors include:

• Adéọlá Dewis 
• Alycia Pirmohamed 
• Chloe Filani 
• Durre Shahwar
• Hanan Issa 
• Jasmine Isa Qureshi
• Kandace Siobhan Walker
• Kate Cleaver
• Khairani Barokka
• Louisa Adjoa Parker
• Maya Chowdhry 
• Nadia Javed
• Sharan Dhaliwa
• Sofia Rehman
• Susmita Bhattacharya 
• Taylor Edmonds
• Tina Pasotra