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James Rebanks

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James Rebanks
Born1974 (age 49–50)
EducationUniversity of Oxford (BA)
AwardsWainwright Prize for Nature Writing (2021)
Writing career
GenrePastoral
Notable worksThe Shepherd's Life

James Rebanks (born 1974)[1] is an English sheep farmer and author, from Matterdale in Cumbria.[2] His first book, the autobiography The Shepherd's Life, was published in 2015,[3] and he published English Pastoral in 2020.[4][5] He also published The Illustrated Herdwick Shepherd in 2015[6] and The Shepherd's View: Modern Photographs from an Ancient Landscape in 2016.[7]

Early life and education

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Rebanks left school at the age of 16 to work on his family's farm with two GCSEs in woodworking and religious studies.[3] He took A levels at evening classes in Carlisle before studying at Magdalen College, Oxford,[3][8] where he achieved a double first in history.[9]

Career

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Following his degree, Rebanks returned to farming, which he continues to do, specialising in Herdwick sheep but moving towards a more mixed farm. He has also run a consultancy based at his farm.[10][11] He was involved in the bid for the Lake District to receive World Heritage status (which was approved by UNESCO in 2017),[12][13] and as of December 2020 had a following of 141,667 on Twitter as "Herdwick Shepherd" (@herdyshepherd1).

In 2018 he resigned from a government panel set up by Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs Michael Gove, and also took a break from Twitter after the composition of the panel was criticised by environmentalists as being biased towards the farming community.[14]

In 2019 he appeared on BBC Radio 4's Desert Island Discs. His chosen music included tracks by Rachmaninoff, Nina Simone, and Kirsty MacColl (the choice he would rescue from the waves); his chosen book was The Old Man and the Sea by Ernest Hemingway, and his luxury was pen and paper.[1] He has also appeared on BBC Radio 3's Private Passions[15] and Radio 4's On Your Farm.[16] In December 2021 he guest-edited Radio 4's Today programme.[17]

In 2021 English Pastoral won the Wainwright Prize in the Nature Writing category.[18]

Selected publications

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  • The Shepherd's Life: A Tale of the Lake District. London: Allen Lane. 2 April 2015. ISBN 978-1846148545.
  • The Illustrated Herdwick Shepherd. London: Penguin Books. 5 November 2015. ISBN 9781846148903.
  • The Shepherd's View: Modern Photographs from an Ancient Landscape. London: Flatiron. 18 October 2016. ISBN 978-1250103369.
  • English Pastoral: an inheritance. London: Allen Lane. 3 September 2020. ISBN 9780241245729. (published in North America as Pastoral Song: A Farmer’s Journey. 3 August 2021. Custom House. ISBN 978-0063073272)
  • The Place of Tides. Allen Lane. 17 October 2024. ISBN 978-0241426937.

References

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  1. ^ a b "James Rebanks, Shepherd and Writer". Desert Island Discs. BBC Radio 4. 25 January 2019. Retrieved 28 December 2021.
  2. ^ Moran, Caitlin (4 September 2020). "Caitlin Moran meets James Rebanks, Lake District sheep farmer turned Twitter activist". The Times. ISSN 0140-0460. Retrieved 28 December 2021.(subscription required)
  3. ^ a b c Rebanks, James (2 April 2015). The Shepherd's Life: A Tale of the Lake District. London: Allen Lane. ISBN 978-1846148545.
  4. ^ Rebanks, James (3 September 2020). English Pastoral: an inheritance. London: Allen Lane. ISBN 9780241245729.
  5. ^ Morrison, Blake (3 September 2020). "English Pastoral by James Rebanks review – how to look after the land". The Guardian. Retrieved 28 December 2021.
  6. ^ Rebanks, James (5 November 2015). The Illustrated Herdwick Shepherd. London: Penguin Books. ISBN 9781846148903.
  7. ^ Rebanks, James (18 October 2016). The Shepherd's View: Modern Photographs from an Ancient Landscape. London: Flatiron Books. ISBN 978-1250103369.
  8. ^ "James Rebanks: One shepherd and his beloved Herdwick sheep". The Shepherd's Life. BBC Radio 4. Retrieved 28 December 2021. People think travel broadens the mind, I'm not so sure. I think a focus on, and love of, one place can make people rather sensible, decent, and wise
  9. ^ Carter, Helen (2 May 2015). "The farmer and best-selling author of The Shepherd's Life talks about dealing with new-found fame". The Independent. Retrieved 28 December 2021.
  10. ^ "About us". Rebanks Consulting Ltd. Archived from the original on 27 March 2016.
  11. ^ Kellaway, Kate (3 May 2015). "Shepherd James Rebanks: 'My ambition is to be a really good nobody'". The Guardian. Retrieved 28 December 2021.
  12. ^ Fraser, Harriet (8 March 2014). "The hill farmers fighting for their livelihoods". The Daily Telegraph. Retrieved 28 December 2021.(subscription required)
  13. ^ Sulcas, Roslyn (5 June 2015). "James Rebanks, Man of Sheep, Man of Letters (Published 2015)". The New York Times. ISSN 0362-4331. Retrieved 28 December 2021.(subscription required)
  14. ^ "Twitter's favourite shepherd quits government review of National Parks after three days due to 'cretinous attacks' from environmentalists". The Daily Telegraph. 24 June 2018. Retrieved 28 December 2021.(subscription required)
  15. ^ "James Rebanks". Private Passions. BBC Radio 3. 21 March 2021. Retrieved 28 December 2021.
  16. ^ "James Rebanks, the Herdy Shepherd". On Your Farm. BBC Radio 4. 10 May 2015. Retrieved 28 December 2021.
  17. ^ "Today". BBC Radio 4. 28 December 2021. Retrieved 28 December 2021.
  18. ^ Flood, Alison (7 September 2021). "Wainwright prize for nature writing goes to James Rebanks for English Pastoral". The Guardian. Retrieved 28 December 2021.
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