Raynor Winn (born 1962)[1] is a British long-distance walker and writer. Her first book, The Salt Path, was a Sunday Times bestseller in 2018.[2]
Life
editWinn and her husband Moth, who was diagnosed with corticobasal degeneration (CBD), became homeless after a business deal with a friend went wrong,[3][4] and decided to walk the 630-mile (1,010 km) South West Coast Path.[5][6]
Her autobiographical first book, The Salt Path, at once a memoir, a piece of nature writing and a travel book, was shortlisted for the 2018 Wainwright Prize,[2] and the 2018 Costa Book Awards[2] in the biography category. The judges described it as "An absolutely brilliant story that needs to be told about the human capacity to endure and keep putting one foot in front of another."[7] In May 2019 the book won the inaugural RSL Christopher Bland Prize.[8] In September 2019 it was the bestseller in UK independent bookstores.[9] In 2023 a film adaptation of the same name began filming with Gillian Anderson and Jason Isaacs in the lead roles.[10]
Winn also writes about nature, homelessness and wild camping.[11] Her second book, The Wild Silence, was published by Michael Joseph (a subsidiary of Penguin Books) in September 2020.[9][12] It was shortlisted for the 2021 Wainwright Prize for Nature Writing.[13]
Winn's third book, Landlines (2022), describes a 1,000-mile (1,600 km) journey with her husband along the 200-mile (320 km) Cape Wrath Trail in north-west Scotland, described as "the toughest and wildest Britain has to offer", and southwards through Scotland and England to the South West Coast Path.[14][15]
In April 2024 the couple set out to walk the Thames Path to raise awareness and funds for CBD.[16] Winn then took part in the 2024 London Marathon, completing in a time of 7hr 52min 7sec.[17]
Selected publications
edit- Winn, Raynor (22 March 2018). The Salt Path. Michael Joseph. ISBN 978-0-2413-4964-9.
- Winn, Raynor (3 September 2020). The Wild Silence. Michael Joseph. ISBN 978-0-2414-0146-0.
- Winn, Raynor (15 September 2022). Landlines. Michael Joseph. ISBN 978-0-2414-8456-2.
References
edit- ^ "Wilde Stille" [Wild Silence]. dumontreise.de (in German). Retrieved 15 September 2022.
- ^ a b c Raynor Winn | The Salt Path. Penguin Books. 31 January 2019. Retrieved 15 September 2022.
- ^ Wollaston, Sam (6 December 2018). "'Nature was my safe place': Raynor Winn on homelessness and setting off on a 630-mile walk". the Guardian. Retrieved 28 September 2022.
- ^ "How crisis led couple up the coastal path". BBC News. 28 March 2018. Retrieved 15 September 2022.
- ^ "In rural England the homeless are a problem to be hidden..." The Big Issue. 17 July 2017. Retrieved 15 September 2022.
- ^ "Homeless couple say walking South West Coast path was 'life-changing'". ITV News. 20 April 2018. Retrieved 15 September 2022.
- ^ "2018 shortlists for all categories" (PDF). Costa Book Awards. 22 November 2018. Retrieved 15 September 2022.
- ^ "RSL Christopher Bland Prize 2019 – winner announced". Royal Society of Literature. 29 May 2019. Retrieved 15 September 2022.
- ^ a b Wood, Heloise (27 September 2019). "Raynor Winn's next novel revealed at Michael Joseph showcase". The Bookseller. Retrieved 15 September 2022.
- ^ Barnes, Dan (21 June 2023). "Gillian Anderson, Jason Isaacs filming Salt Path in Chepstow". South Wales Argus. Retrieved 30 June 2023.
- ^ "Raynor Winn". Penzance Literary Festival. Archived from the original on 5 July 2019.
- ^ Tempany, Adrian (30 August 2020). "The Wild Silence by Raynor Winn review – in search of healing and home". The Observer. Retrieved 15 September 2022.
- ^ Comerford, Ruth (4 August 2021). "Sethi, Winn and Rebanks shortlisted for Wainwright Prize". The Bookseller. Retrieved 15 September 2022.
- ^ Beer, Amy-Jane (15 September 2022). "Landlines by Raynor Winn review – back on the trail". The Guardian. Retrieved 24 September 2022.
- ^ "Landlines". Penguin Books. Retrieved 24 September 2022.
- ^ "Thames Path walk for couple raising awareness of rare condition". BBC News. 4 April 2024. Retrieved 16 June 2024.
- ^ "TCS London Marathon 2024: Raynor Winn". Mika timing. Retrieved 16 June 2024.
