Anita Sethi

Anita Sethi is a British writer, journalist and author who has written about nature, walking, racism, anxiety and northern England.[1] She is a Fellow of the Royal Geographical Society and has been a Judge of the British Book Awards, the Women's Prize and the Orwell Prize. She is the winner of a Books Are My Bag Readers' Award and was nominated for the Wainwright Prize, The Great Outdoors Awards, and the Royal Society of Literature's Ondaatje Prize for writing that "evokes the spirit of a place". She has presented several episodes of BBC Radio 4's Tweet of the Day programme.

Early life and education

Sethi was born in Manchester, England, to a mother from Guyana and a father from Kenya.[2][3][4] Her mother was a nurse and a single parent; Sethi grew up in Old Trafford, Greater Manchester.[5][6] She attended the University of Cambridge, where she read English. [7][8] Sethi is a Doctor of Philosophy by publication.

Career

Sethi has written for The Guardian, The Observer,[9] The Sunday Times, The Independent, the New Statesman, Granta, The Times Literary Supplement and British Vogue among others. In broadcasting, she has been a critic, commentator and presenter on BBC programmes and has spoken at festivals.[10] She has been on Ramblings on BBC Radio 4, when she and Clare Balding walked in Hope Valley, Derbyshire.[11][12]

Sethi's essay "On Class and the Countryside" was published in the anthology The Wild Isles: An Anthology of the Best of British and Irish Nature Writing.[13] Other anthologies she has been published in include Women on Nature, We Mark Your Memory: Writing from the Descendants of Indenture, and Way Makers: An Anthology of Women’s Writing About Walking (2023). She was a writer in residence at the Emerging Writers' Festival in Melbourne, Australia.[14] She has been a judge of the Women's Prize for Fiction,[15] the British Book Awards and the Costa Book Awards.

Sethi is the author of the memoir I Belong Here: A Journey Along the Backbone of Britain, published in 2021.[16][17] In 2021, I Belong Here was shortlisted for the Wainwright Prize in the Nature Writing category [18] and won a Books Are My Bag Readers' Award. It was nominated for the Royal Society of Literature's Ondaatje Prize 2022 for an outstanding work that "evokes the spirit of a place".

Sethi has written about racism in the United Kingdom and about being the victim of a race hate crime.[19][20][4] She did the walk in the Pennines described in I Belong Here partly to "reclaim the landscapes of her beloved north country from the racist [abuser]", and has spoken about north-south prejudice.[4][21] She has also written about using nature to help with anxiety, and about class and access to the countryside.[17][4]

In 2018, at an event for the Commonwealth People's Forum, Sethi was introduced to Prince Charles.[22] He told her that she didn't "look like" she was from Manchester.[22] Sethi wrote about this for The Guardian as an example of "racism and ignorance".[22] This was described in the media as a "racism row".[23][24]

In 2026 she was elected a Fellow of the Royal Historical Society.[25]

References

  1. ↑ Barkham, Patrick (19 March 2021). "Nature writing must become more diverse if it is to reflect the world around us". The i Paper. Archived from the original on 19 March 2021. Retrieved 9 February 2026.
  2. ↑ "Writers gain from Commonwealth workshop". Stabroek News. 18 May 2019. Retrieved 5 October 2024.
  3. ↑ Dalal, Sanghamitra (2024). "Longing to Belong in One's Own Homeland: Tracing the Topophilic Cartography in Anita Sethi's I Belong Here: A Journey Along the Backbone of Britain". Text Matters (14). doi:10.18778/2083-2931.14.16. hdl:11089/53977. Retrieved 9 February 2026.
  4. 1 2 3 4 Sanderson, Caroline (22 January 2021). "Anita Sethi - 'Healing comes from keeping open to the world and to other people'". The Bookseller. Retrieved 17 January 2023.
  5. ↑ Sethi, Anita (29 June 2020). "Is the countryside the reserve of the privileged?". Discover Wildlife. BBC Wildlife Magazine. Retrieved 9 February 2026.
  6. ↑ Sethi, Anita (4 July 2020). "Nature Should Be For Everyone – Not Just A Privileged Few". British Vogue. Retrieved 9 February 2026.
  7. ↑ Sethi, Anita (5 July 2005). "Anita Sethi: There's no going back". The Guardian. Retrieved 9 February 2026.
  8. ↑ Sethi, Anita (30 April 2026). "Anita Sethi". Anita Sethi. Retrieved 24 June 2026.
  9. ↑ "Profile: Anita Sethi". The Guardian.
  10. ↑ "Latitude Festival artist profile". Archived from the original on 12 September 2015. Retrieved 3 August 2015.
  11. ↑ "Available Podcasts from Ramblings". Listener's Guide. Retrieved 9 February 2026.
  12. ↑ "Ramblings, Hope Valley with Anita Sethi". BBC Radio 4. 26 October 2023. Retrieved 9 February 2026.
  13. ↑ Shah, Irfan. "The best books of nature-writing with humans at the center". Book DNA. Retrieved 9 February 2026.
  14. ↑ "Anita Sethi". The Wheeler Centre.
  15. ↑ Harry, Aaliayah. "Judges Revealed For The Women's Prize For Fiction 2022". Grazia. Retrieved 25 January 2025.
  16. ↑ Das, Shanti (18 April 2021). "I Belong Here by Anita Sethi, review — on the trail of identity in the Pennines". The Times. ISSN 0140-0460. Retrieved 2 June 2021.
  17. 1 2 Sturges, Fiona (21 April 2021). "I Belong Here by Anita Sethi review – a healing journey". The Guardian. Retrieved 2 June 2021.
  18. ↑ Comerford, Ruth (21 August 2021). "Sethi, Winn and Rebanks shortlisted for Wainwright Prize". The Bookseller. Retrieved 5 August 2021.
  19. ↑ Sethi, Anita (23 June 2019). "I was the victim of race hate crime – but by speaking up I felt empowered". The Guardian. Retrieved 9 February 2026.
  20. ↑ "South Asian Heritage Month: Using nature to explore heritage". ITV News. 3 August 2022. Retrieved 9 February 2026.
  21. ↑ O’Kelly, Lisa (11 April 2021). "Anita Sethi: 'I wanted something joyous to come out of this horrific experience'". The Guardian. Retrieved 9 February 2026.
  22. 1 2 3 Sethi, Anita (19 April 2018). "Dear Prince Charles, do you think my brown skin makes me unBritish?". The Guardian. Retrieved 9 February 2026.
  23. ↑ Drury, Colin (21 April 2018). "Prince Charles in race row after telling woman she 'doesn't look like she is from Manchester'". The Independent. Archived from the original on 21 April 2018. Retrieved 9 February 2026.
  24. ↑ Slater, Chris (21 April 2018). "Racism row involving Prince Charles and a woman from Rusholme". Manchester Evening News. Retrieved 9 February 2026.
  25. ↑ https://files.royalhistsoc.org/wp-content/uploads/2026/05/26114141/Fellows_May-2026-updated.pdf
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