Tell us a bit about your bookshop!
Bookselling wasn’t on our horizon at all until a few years ago. Both of us gave up high-level corporate jobs in sustainability (Amber) and marketing (Karen) and made a huge leap of faith to open FOLDE, our nature writing-focused bookshop, located on the iconic Gold Hill in our home town of Shaftesbury, Dorset. While Karen had worked in publishing early on in her career, we had no prior bookselling or retail experience, but we knew we wanted to do something to share our love of this beautiful part of the country and the natural world more generally. We were reading lots of nature writing and could see how the genre had burgeoned over the past decade. And so FOLDE was born, initially online in October 2020 then as a physical shop in April 2021. In March 2024, we were named Best Independent Bookshop in South-West England at the British Book Awards, which was a real high point, as was achieving our B Corp Certification the following month. It’s been a good year!
Why is nature writing so important to you?
Aside from the fact that it’s our shop’s specialist subject, reading nature writing can do so much to encourage us to broaden our understanding of the landscape and waterways, flora and fauna that surround us. And as is often said, the more you know something, the more likely you are to care about it and want to protect it, and that’s never been more important than now.
Why does the Wainwright Prize matter to you?
Although nature writing has really flourished over the past ten years, particularly in breadth and diversity, it can still feel rather niche in the context of the wider book industry. We were struck that when we attended the British Book Awards in May, a huge event that celebrates all aspects of the book industry, nature writing was hardly represented at all. The Wainwright Prize has an important job to do in raising the profile of the genre and the many brilliant authors writing in the areas of nature and conservation, and helping it break out of its echo chamber. It also serves as a ‘badge of honour’ for the year’s best publishing and helps to guide customers to pick up titles they might not necessarily have looked at otherwise.
What’s your stand-out nature book of the last 10 years for ‘Nature’, ‘Conservation’ and ‘Childrens’?
This feels like being asked to choose our favourite child as there are so many books that we admire. But seeing as you’re asking, we have a real fondness for English Pastoral by James Rebanks because it’s beautifully written and really opened our eyes to the joys, hardship and complexities of farming; Braiding Sweetgrass by Robin Wall Kimmerer (technically 11 years old but it’s been a word-of-mouth slow-burner so many people are only just discovering it) for framing the vital importance of a reciprocal relationship with nature with a sense of hope and wonder; and The Biggest Footprint by Rob and Tom Sears because of the lighthearted and original way it tackles a subject that can be difficult to discuss with children without descending into gloom.