Jenn Ashworth

I am a writer based in the North West of England. I write short fiction, memoir and novels and I teach writing at Lancaster University. I have won the Betty Trask Award and been shortlisted for the Gordon Burn Prize, The Portico Prize and the BBC Best British Short Story Award. My latest book is The Parallel Path, a memoir of care, grief and walking across the North of England.

I first set out to do the coast-to-coast walk on a whim; not naturally outdoorsy, all I knew was that I wanted to be alone and outside for a while and explore the fells I'd been able to see from my bedroom window while I cared for my family during the pandemic. I followed in Alfred Wainwright's footsteps and walked through the Lake District National Park, the Yorkshire Dales and the North York Moors, slowly understanding not only why the lockdown had exhausted me so much, but where these messages of Northern toughness, resilience and stoicism I'd been living with my entire life had come from. What I thought would be a story of solitude became one of care and friendship, one that prepared me for my next challenge; an unexpected illness that would confine me at home again and face an even tougher challenge than a 192 mile walk across the country. Now I had to allow people to look after me.