Katherine May
Description
Katherine May is an internationally renowned writer, podcaster and speaker whose work touches on nature, spirituality, slow living and neurodivergence. Her hybrid memoir Wintering was a global bestseller, adapted as BBC Radio 4’s Book of the Week, and shortlisted for the Porchlight and Barnes & Noble Book of the Year. Her most recent title, Enchantment became an instant New York Times bestseller, and The Electricity of Every Living Thing, her memoir of a midlife autism diagnosis, was adapted as an audio drama by Audible. Other titles include novels such as The Whitstable High Tide Swimming Club, and The Best, Most Awful Job, an anthology of essays about motherhood which she edited. Katherine writes the popular Substack newsletter, The Clearing. Her journalism and essays have appeared in a range of publications including The New York Times, The Observer, The Wall Street Journal, Time, and Aeon. She hosts the chart-topping podcast How We Live Now, and has been a guest presenter for On Being’s The Future of Hope series. Katherine lives by the sea in Whitstable, UK, with her husband, son and pets. She loves walking, sea-swimming and cooking enormous feasts. Katherine’s literary agent is Madeleine Milburn at Madeleine Milburn Literary, TV & Film Agency, and her speaking agent is Hayley Shear at PRH Speakers. Author's Website
Books
Electricity of Every Living Thing
In anticipation of her 38th birthday, Katherine May set out to walk the 630-mile South West Coast Path. She wanted time alone, in nature, to understand why she was having so much trouble coping with everyday life; why motherhood had been so overwhelming and isolating; and why the world felt full of expectations she couldn't meet. She was also reeling from a chance encounter with a voice on the radio that sparked her realization that she might be autistic. And so began a trek along the ruggedly beautiful path by the sea that takes readers through the alternatingly frustrating, funny, and enlightening experience of re-awakening to the world around us. This sees Katherine come to terms with what it would mean to be autistic, leading her to re-evaluate her life so far--with a much kinder, more forgiving eye. We bear witness as she forms a new understanding that finally allows her to be different rather than simply awkward, arrogant, or unfeeling. The physical and psychological journeys of this inspiring book become inextricably entwined, and as Katherine finds her way across the untamable coast, we learn alongside her how to find our way back to our own true selves.
Invernando/ Wintering
Un libro íntimo y revelador que explora las formas en que podemos cuidarnos y repararnos cuando la vida nos derriba. Best seller en Estados Unidos e Inglaterra. A veces te escapas por las grietas: circunstancias imprevistas como una enfermedad repentina, la muerte de un ser querido, una ruptura o la pérdida del trabajo pueden descarrilar una vida. Estos períodos de dislocación pueden ser solitarios e inesperados. Para May, su esposo se enfermó, su hijo dejó de asistir a la escuela y sus propios problemas médicos la llevaron a dejar un trabajo exigente. Invernando explora cómo ella no solo soportó este doloroso momento, sino que aprovechó las oportunidades singulares que le ofrecía. Una conmovedora narración personal repleta de lecciones de la literatura, la mitología y el mundo natural, la historia de May ofrece instrucción sobre el poder transformador del descanso y el retiro. La iluminación surge de muchas fuentes: las celebraciones del solsticio y la hibernación del lirón, C.S. Lewis y Sylvia Plath, nadando en aguas heladas y navegando por los mares árticos. En última instancia, Invernando nos invita a cambiar la forma en que nos relacionamos con nuestros propios tiempos de barbecho. May modela una aceptación activa de la tristeza y encuentra alimento en un retiro profundo, alegría en la belleza silenciosa del invierno y estímulo para entender la vida como cíclica, no lineal. May, un místico secular, forma una filosofía rectora para transformar las dificultades que surgen antes del inicio de una nueva temporada.