Nature, declares Richard Mabey, makes us ill. “Bacteria and viruses and man-eating tigers and predatory Asian hornets are also all part of nature. Writing has always been how Mabey makes sense of things, and keeps well. His biography of Gilbert White (1986) and epic cultural history of plants, Flora Britannica (1996), are key texts in the revival of nature writing in Britain. It’s quite plain that people did have an unusual response to the natural world during lockdown and are still having that,” he says.

Source: The Guardian March 27, 2021 10:52 UTC