Outdoor literature
Encyclopedia
Outdoor literature is a literature
genre about or involving the outdoors. Outdoor literature encompasses several different sub-genre
s variously called Exploration literature, Adventure literature and Nature literature. These genres can include activities such as exploration, survival, sailing, mountaineering, whitewater boating, geocaching, kayaking, etc. or writing about nature and the environment. They all involve being in the outdoors as a central theme and are usually narrative non-fiction. It differs from Travel literature
, although the two genres can mix and there is no definitive boundary.
Henry David Thoreau
's Walden
(1854) is an early and influential work. Although not entirely an outdoor work (he lived in a cabin nearby civilization) he expressed the ideas of why people go out into the wilderness to camp, backpack and hike: to get away from the rush of modern society and simplify life. This was a new perspective for the time and thus Walden has had a lasting influence on most outdoor authors.
Robert Louis Stevenson
's Travels with a Donkey in the Cévennes (1879), about his travels in Cévennes
(France), is among the first popular books to present hiking and camping as recreational activities, and tells of commissioning one of the first sleeping bag
s.
The National Outdoor Book Award
was formed in 1997 as a US
-based non-profit program which each year honors the best in outdoor writing and publishing.
Literature
Literature is the art of written works, and is not bound to published sources...
genre about or involving the outdoors. Outdoor literature encompasses several different sub-genre
Literature
Literature is the art of written works, and is not bound to published sources...
s variously called Exploration literature, Adventure literature and Nature literature. These genres can include activities such as exploration, survival, sailing, mountaineering, whitewater boating, geocaching, kayaking, etc. or writing about nature and the environment. They all involve being in the outdoors as a central theme and are usually narrative non-fiction. It differs from Travel literature
Travel literature
Travel literature is travel writing of literary value. Travel literature typically records the experiences of an author touring a place for the pleasure of travel. An individual work is sometimes called a travelogue or itinerary. Travel literature may be cross-cultural or transnational in focus, or...
, although the two genres can mix and there is no definitive boundary.
Henry David Thoreau
Henry David Thoreau
Henry David Thoreau was an American author, poet, philosopher, abolitionist, naturalist, tax resister, development critic, surveyor, historian, and leading transcendentalist...
's Walden
Walden
Walden is an American book written by noted Transcendentalist Henry David Thoreau...
(1854) is an early and influential work. Although not entirely an outdoor work (he lived in a cabin nearby civilization) he expressed the ideas of why people go out into the wilderness to camp, backpack and hike: to get away from the rush of modern society and simplify life. This was a new perspective for the time and thus Walden has had a lasting influence on most outdoor authors.
Robert Louis Stevenson
Robert Louis Stevenson
Robert Louis Balfour Stevenson was a Scottish novelist, poet, essayist and travel writer. His best-known books include Treasure Island, Kidnapped, and Strange Case of Dr Jekyll and Mr Hyde....
's Travels with a Donkey in the Cévennes (1879), about his travels in Cévennes
Cévennes
The Cévennes are a range of mountains in south-central France, covering parts of the départements of Gard, Lozère, Ardèche, and Haute-Loire.The word Cévennes comes from the Gaulish Cebenna, which was Latinized by Julius Caesar to Cevenna...
(France), is among the first popular books to present hiking and camping as recreational activities, and tells of commissioning one of the first sleeping bag
Sleeping bag
A sleeping bag is a protective "bag" for a person to sleep in, essentially a blanket that can be closed with a zipper or similar means, and functions as a bed in situations where a bed is unavailable . Its primary purpose is to provide warmth and thermal insulation...
s.
The National Outdoor Book Award
National Outdoor Book Award
The National Outdoor Book Award was formed in 1997 as a US-based non-profit program which each year honors the best in outdoor writing and publishing. It is housed at Idaho State University and chaired by Ron Watters. Awards are presented in ten categories. The award is announced in early November...
was formed in 1997 as a US
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
-based non-profit program which each year honors the best in outdoor writing and publishing.
Notable outdoor literature
- Pre-19th Century
- Richard HakluytRichard HakluytRichard Hakluyt was an English writer. He is principally remembered for his efforts in promoting and supporting the settlement of North America by the English through his works, notably Divers Voyages Touching the Discoverie of America and The Principal Navigations, Voiages, Traffiques and...
(1589). Voyages. A foundation text of the travel literature genre.
- Richard Hakluyt
- 19th Century
- Charles DarwinCharles DarwinCharles Robert Darwin FRS was an English naturalist. He established that all species of life have descended over time from common ancestry, and proposed the scientific theory that this branching pattern of evolution resulted from a process that he called natural selection.He published his theory...
(1839). The Voyage of the BeagleThe Voyage of the BeagleThe Voyage of the Beagle is a title commonly given to the book written by Charles Darwin and published in 1839 as his Journal and Remarks, bringing him considerable fame and respect...
. - Richard Henry Dana, Jr.Richard Henry Dana, Jr.Richard Henry Dana Jr. was an American lawyer and politician from Massachusetts, a descendant of an eminent colonial family who gained renown as the author of the American classic, the memoir Two Years Before the Mast...
(1841). Two Years Before the MastTwo Years Before the MastTwo Years Before the Mast is a book by the American author Richard Henry Dana, Jr., published in 1840, having been written after a two-year sea voyage starting in 1834. A film adaptation under the same name was released in 1946.- Background :...
. Some of the earliest descriptions of California. - John MacGregorJohn MacGregor (sportsman)John MacGregor , nicknamed Rob Roy after a renowned relative, was a Scottish explorer, travel writer and philanthropist. He is generally credited with the development of the first sailing canoes and with popularising canoeing as a middle class sport in Europe and the United States...
(1866). A Thousand Miles in a Rob Roy Canoe. Considered the first documentation of recreational canoeing. - Edward WhymperEdward WhymperEdward Whymper , was an English illustrator, climber and explorer best known for the first ascent of the Matterhorn in 1865. On the descent four members of the party were killed.-Early life:...
(1871). Scrambles Amongst the Alps in the Years 1860-1869 - Mark TwainMark TwainSamuel Langhorne Clemens , better known by his pen name Mark Twain, was an American author and humorist...
(1872). Roughing ItRoughing ItRoughing It is a book of semi-autobiographical travel literature written by American humorist Mark Twain. It was written during 1870–71 and published in 1872 as a prequel to his first book Innocents Abroad...
. Part real part fiction, classic account of life in the American Old West. - Robert Louis StevensonRobert Louis StevensonRobert Louis Balfour Stevenson was a Scottish novelist, poet, essayist and travel writer. His best-known books include Treasure Island, Kidnapped, and Strange Case of Dr Jekyll and Mr Hyde....
(1878). An Inland VoyageAn Inland VoyageAn Inland Voyage is a travelogue by Robert Louis Stevenson about a canoeing trip through France and Belgium in 1876. It is Stevenson's earliest book and a pioneering work of outdoor literature....
. A canoeing trip through France and Belgium in 1876 - Joshua SlocumJoshua SlocumJoshua Slocum was the first man to sail single-handedly around the world. He was a Canadian born, naturalised American seaman and adventurer, and a noted writer. In 1900 he told the story of this in Sailing Alone Around the World...
(1900). Sailing Alone Around the WorldSailing Alone Around the WorldSailing Alone Around the World is a sailing memoir by Joshua Slocum about his single-handed global circumnavigation aboard the sloop Spray. Slocum was the first person to sail around the world alone...
. A 53-year old Nova Scotia mariner is first to do this between 1895 and 1898.
- Charles Darwin
- 20th Century
- Apsley Cherry-GarrardApsley Cherry-GarrardApsley George Benet Cherry-Garrard was an English explorer of Antarctica. He was a survivor of the Terra Nova Expedition and is acclaimed for his historical account of this expedition, The Worst Journey in the World....
, The Worst Journey in the WorldThe Worst Journey in the WorldThe Worst Journey in the World is a memoir of the 1910–1913 British Antarctic Expedition led by Robert Falcon Scott. It was written and published in 1922 by a survivor of the expedition, Apsley Cherry-Garrard, and has earned wide praise for its frank treatment of the difficulties of the expedition,...
, an account of Robert Falcon ScottRobert Falcon ScottCaptain Robert Falcon Scott, CVO was a Royal Navy officer and explorer who led two expeditions to the Antarctic regions: the Discovery Expedition, 1901–04, and the ill-fated Terra Nova Expedition, 1910–13...
's 1910-1913 expedition to the South Pole. - Ernest ShackletonErnest ShackletonSir Ernest Henry Shackleton, CVO, OBE was a notable explorer from County Kildare, Ireland, who was one of the principal figures of the period known as the Heroic Age of Antarctic Exploration...
(1917), South. A classic of polar exploration. - Evelyn WaughEvelyn WaughArthur Evelyn St. John Waugh , known as Evelyn Waugh, was an English writer of novels, travel books and biographies. He was also a prolific journalist and reviewer...
(1930s). When the Going Was GoodWhen the Going Was GoodWhen The Going Was Good is an anthology of four travel books written by English author Evelyn Waugh. The book consists of fragments from the travel books Labels , Remote People , Ninety-Two Days , and Waugh In Abyssinia . The author writes that these pages are all that he wishes to preserve of the...
. With Waugh around the Mediterranean, to Ethiopia, across Africa and through the jungles of South America, in the late 1920s and 1930s. - Grey OwlGrey OwlGrey Owl was the name Archibald Belaney adopted when he took on a First Nations identity as an adult...
(1935). Pilgrims of the Wild. About Grey Owl's life in the wilds of Canada. - Gontran de PoncinsGontran de PoncinsJean-Pierre Gontran de Montaigne, vicomte de Poncins, known as Gontran De Poncins , was a French writer and adventurer....
(1939). KabloonaKabloonaKabloona is a book by French adventurer Gontran de Poncins, written in collaboration with Lewis Galantiere. It was first published in the USA in 1941 as a selection of the Book-of-the-Month Club , in England in 1942, and in French in 1947...
. French adventurer living with Eskimos in the late 1930s. - Wilfred ThesigerWilfred ThesigerSir Wilfred Patrick Thesiger, CBE, DSO, FRAS, FRGS was a British explorer and travel writer born in Addis Ababa, the capital of Ethiopia.-Family:...
(1950s). Arabian Sands. Another classic of adventure. Since he travelled so much, Thesiger's biography, The Life of My Choice also rates as a great travel book. Thesiger's travels took him to Ethiopia, Arabia, French West Africa and the Sudan. He was an explorer/adventurer, soldier and British colonial official. - Maurice HerzogMaurice HerzogMaurice Herzog is a French mountaineer and sports administrator who was born in Lyon, France. He led the expedition that first climbed a peak over 8000m, Annapurna, in 1950, and reached the summit with Louis Lachenal. Upon his return, he wrote a best-selling book about the expedition...
(1951). Annapurna: Conquest of the First 8000-metre Peak. Probably the most influential mountaineering expedition book. - Wallace StegnerWallace StegnerWallace Earle Stegner was an American historian, novelist, short story writer, and environmentalist, often called "The Dean of Western Writers"...
(1954). Beyond the Hundredth Meridian: John Wesley Powell and the Second Opening of the West - Eric NewbyEric NewbyGeorge Eric Newby CBE MC was an English travel author. Newby's best known works include A Short Walk in the Hindu Kush, The Last Grain Race, and Round Ireland in Low Gear.-Life:...
(1958). A Short Walk in the Hindu KushA Short Walk in the Hindu KushA Short Walk in the Hindu Kush is a 1958 book by Eric Newby. It is an autobiographical account of his adventures in the Hindu Kush, around the Nuristan mountains of Afghanistan.- Background to the book :...
. Popular English travel writer. - Theodore TaylorTheodore TaylorTheodore Taylor may refer to:*Theodore Taylor , American author*Theodore Cooke Taylor , British businessman and Liberal politician*Ted Taylor , American physicist and nuclear weapons designer...
(1969). The Cay. Story of race and survival on an isolated cay. - Jon KrakauerJon KrakauerJon Krakauer is an American writer and mountaineer, primarily known for his writing about the outdoors and mountain-climbing...
(1990s). Into the Wild, Into Thin AirInto Thin AirInto Thin Air: A Personal Account of the Mt. Everest Disaster is a 1997 bestselling non-fiction book written by Jon Krakauer. It details the author's presence at Mount Everest during the 1996 Mount Everest disaster when eight climbers were killed and several others were stranded by a 'rogue storm'...
.
- Apsley Cherry-Garrard
External links
- National Outdoor Book Awards
- Outdoor Book Review. A Guide to Outdoor Literature.
- National Geographic Adventure: 100 Best Adventure Books. Alternate site.
- Outside Magazines 25 Best Adventure Books of the Last 100 Years
- Bookmarks Magazine 101 Crackerjack Sea Books, the best books about the sea.
- Adventure Literature; A Critique from The Open Critic
- American Journeys, collection of primary exploration accounts of the Americas.