Konferenzraum “Nora Pfeffer”, Gerhart-Hauptmann-Haus

Dr. Anita Sethi will be reading from I Belong Here: a Journey Along the Backbone of Britain, an intriguing mixture of nature writing, travel writing and memoir. In her book, Sethi not only describes her journey along the Pennine Way, but also contemplates Britain’s multicultural history as well as its geological ‘deep time’. Written in response to experiencing a hate crime, the book is a profound negotiation of belonging and embodiment in the English countryside. 

Following the readings of various excerpts from the book, there will also be a Q&A session.

Dr Anita Sethi (PhD) was born in Manchester, UK where her love of nature first flourished, in wild urban spaces. She is author of the acclaimed book, I Belong Here: a Journey Along the Backbone of Britain which won a Books Are My Bag Readers Award, and was nominated for the Wainwright Prize for Nature Writing, Great Outdoors Award and Royal Society of Literature's Ondaatje Prize for outstanding works evoking 'the spirit of a place'. Her writing has also appeared in anthologies including Women on Nature, The Wild Isles, Seasons and Common People.  She has written for the Guardian, Observer, i, Sunday Times, Telegraph, Vogue, TLS, and BBC Wildlife among others and in broadcasting has appeared on various BBC, ITV and Sky programmes including writing and presenting for BBC Radio.  She is a Judge of the Orwell Prize 2025 and has also Judged the Women's Prize, British Book Awards, Costa Book Awards, Society of Author Awards and more. She has a doctorate specialising in place and nature and the environmental humanities.