(2019) is a “nature memoir” (Pollard 2020) inspired by the Devonshire landscape around the village of Ide where the author, Elizabeth-Jane Burnett, was born and raised. Burnett is a poet and academic whose critical and creative writing focuses on nature and the environment. Her experimental poetry has appeared in several anthologies and she has published a poetry volume,

(Penned in the Margins 2017), which was a

Best Poetry Book of the Year.

Subtitled “A Geological Memoir”, The Grassling deviates from human-centred life writing to encapsulate the geological biography of the land; the history of the people who have lived and worked on it; and an account of Burnett’s own connections to the area. Hence, it is generically extraordinary, described as

2378 words

Citation: Cousins, Helen Rachel. "The Grassling". The Literary Encyclopedia. First published 15 April 2020 [https://www.litencyc.com/php/sworks.php?rec=true&UID=38964, accessed 24 November 2024.]