Author Interview: Sam Pyrah

Q&A with the contributors from Hinterland - and a reminder about our new course.

Sam Pyrah is a journalist and author from London now living in the Cairngorms, by way of rural East Sussex and North Devon. She is fascinated by the human mind and body and its interactions with the world. Her recent work has appeared in The Guardian, BBC Countryfile and Litro magazine. She completed a Masters in Wild Writing in 2023 and was longlisted for the 2024 Nature Chronicles prize. She is currently working on a memoir about ecological grief and its unexpected gifts. Her piece ‘The Knack of Fear’ appears in Hinterland Issue 16.

What’s the last thing (except for this!) that you wrote?

A packing list. I'm getting the train to London tomorrow to visit my mum, who just turned 86.

What’s a recent discovery that you can’t keep quiet about?

Sharon Blackie's piece on her Substack, The Art of Enchantment, called ‘The Psychology of Midlife’. It perfectly captures the existential angst that grips us as we transition through menopause. I've shared it widely.

Words to live by?

Achieve more, attempt less.

Tell us something about yourself that surprises people...

I am an introvert. It took me decades to realise it.

What’s your piece in this issue about?

‘The Knack of Fear’ is about overcoming the very many reasons, in the blur of middle age, to not pack a tent and rucksack and walk the Two Moors Way across Devon.

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Thanks for reading! While you’re here, just a reminder that if you want to embark on your own creative non-fiction adventure, we’re running our first non-fiction course next month here in Norwich, aimed at writers near the beginning of their writing journeys. You can find out more and book on to the course here: