Rachel Hewitt
@rachelhewitt.bsky.social
Writing books about women, feminism, trauma, abuse, grief, recovery, joy, the great outdoors, running, sport, history, maps. Free weekly Substack: https://rachelhewitt.substack.com
3 pumpkins and a punk-kin
October 31, 2025 at 4:56 PM
3 pumpkins and a punk-kin
For Halloween, I wrote about how, in C18th Yorkshire, women were suspected to be witches, not because they mixed potions or cast spells, but because they seemed to enjoy running outdoors. Apparently there was no other explanation for a woman enjoying running. Link in bio!
October 31, 2025 at 3:46 PM
For Halloween, I wrote about how, in C18th Yorkshire, women were suspected to be witches, not because they mixed potions or cast spells, but because they seemed to enjoy running outdoors. Apparently there was no other explanation for a woman enjoying running. Link in bio!
Today marks a decade of living in God's Own Country; ten years of being a (North) Yorkshire lass. It's been a very hard decade in many ways, but Yorkshire's incredibly beautiful landscapes have helped to sustain me. I feel very lucky to live here. It feels like home.
October 23, 2025 at 10:00 AM
Today marks a decade of living in God's Own Country; ten years of being a (North) Yorkshire lass. It's been a very hard decade in many ways, but Yorkshire's incredibly beautiful landscapes have helped to sustain me. I feel very lucky to live here. It feels like home.
Wet cat and dying embers
October 19, 2025 at 8:48 PM
Wet cat and dying embers
Apparently this is what it will look like once I’ve painted it
September 26, 2025 at 8:19 PM
Apparently this is what it will look like once I’ve painted it
This week I built a library. Now I just have to paint it 😱
September 26, 2025 at 7:50 PM
This week I built a library. Now I just have to paint it 😱
There are still spaces on my WRITING RETREATS in November and January! These are for anyone writing about outdoor adventure: running, hiking, climbing, swimming, or embezzling £60K from your former employer and having to go for a very long walk. More info & book at www.rachelhewitt.org/retreats
September 19, 2025 at 11:24 AM
There are still spaces on my WRITING RETREATS in November and January! These are for anyone writing about outdoor adventure: running, hiking, climbing, swimming, or embezzling £60K from your former employer and having to go for a very long walk. More info & book at www.rachelhewitt.org/retreats
In particular, the idea that the best support for widows comes from other widows drove the work of a remarkable woman who has almost entirely been forgotten today, called June Hemer.
September 18, 2025 at 12:14 PM
In particular, the idea that the best support for widows comes from other widows drove the work of a remarkable woman who has almost entirely been forgotten today, called June Hemer.
I've become fascinated in the origins of modern peer-to-peer support groups for grief. And I’ve discovered that we have second wave feminists to thank for many of them!
September 18, 2025 at 12:14 PM
I've become fascinated in the origins of modern peer-to-peer support groups for grief. And I’ve discovered that we have second wave feminists to thank for many of them!
This is a thread on gendered differences in experiences of bereavement – and why it’s important that bereaved women have single-sex spaces. If you'd prefer to read this as an essay, there's a full version with refs (link in bio). This is for anyone who prefers to read on Bluesky.
September 5, 2025 at 4:56 PM
This is a thread on gendered differences in experiences of bereavement – and why it’s important that bereaved women have single-sex spaces. If you'd prefer to read this as an essay, there's a full version with refs (link in bio). This is for anyone who prefers to read on Bluesky.
I wrote about having Botox and fillers, and the feminist politics of injectables
*braces self*
If you’re interested, you can read it by following the link in my bio
*braces self*
If you’re interested, you can read it by following the link in my bio
August 28, 2025 at 10:50 AM
I wrote about having Botox and fillers, and the feminist politics of injectables
*braces self*
If you’re interested, you can read it by following the link in my bio
*braces self*
If you’re interested, you can read it by following the link in my bio
Holidays with a teenager
August 21, 2025 at 7:23 PM
Holidays with a teenager
I’m organising residential writing retreats for anyone who wants to explore how their running, hiking and climbing activities might tell a good story!
July 15, 2025 at 11:48 AM
I’m organising residential writing retreats for anyone who wants to explore how their running, hiking and climbing activities might tell a good story!
One retreat will run from 11-13 November 2025 and is female-only.
One retreat will run from 7-9 January 2026, and is open to all.
Both retreats span 3 days (2 nights), and take place in the gorgeous North Yorkshire spa town of Harrogate.
One retreat will run from 7-9 January 2026, and is open to all.
Both retreats span 3 days (2 nights), and take place in the gorgeous North Yorkshire spa town of Harrogate.
July 12, 2025 at 12:21 PM
One retreat will run from 11-13 November 2025 and is female-only.
One retreat will run from 7-9 January 2026, and is open to all.
Both retreats span 3 days (2 nights), and take place in the gorgeous North Yorkshire spa town of Harrogate.
One retreat will run from 7-9 January 2026, and is open to all.
Both retreats span 3 days (2 nights), and take place in the gorgeous North Yorkshire spa town of Harrogate.
Do your outdoor adventures – running, hiking or climbing, on foot or with mobility aids – tell a story?
Would you like to try writing that story?
I am hosting two residential writing retreats on the theme of writing about running, hiking and climbing.
Would you like to try writing that story?
I am hosting two residential writing retreats on the theme of writing about running, hiking and climbing.
July 12, 2025 at 12:20 PM
Do your outdoor adventures – running, hiking or climbing, on foot or with mobility aids – tell a story?
Would you like to try writing that story?
I am hosting two residential writing retreats on the theme of writing about running, hiking and climbing.
Would you like to try writing that story?
I am hosting two residential writing retreats on the theme of writing about running, hiking and climbing.
If you've heard about The Salt Path furore and thought, "I could have written a better/less neat/more real book about my own outdoor adventures", then this tweet is for YOU.
I am organising 2 residential writing retreats on the theme of writing about running, walking & climbing
I am organising 2 residential writing retreats on the theme of writing about running, walking & climbing
July 10, 2025 at 4:23 PM
If you've heard about The Salt Path furore and thought, "I could have written a better/less neat/more real book about my own outdoor adventures", then this tweet is for YOU.
I am organising 2 residential writing retreats on the theme of writing about running, walking & climbing
I am organising 2 residential writing retreats on the theme of writing about running, walking & climbing
Why do (some) nature writers lie?
The Salt Path fiasco reminds me of a strikingly similar story from a century ago, in which another female writer also gained fame through a fake ‘nature cure’ narrative.
The Salt Path fiasco reminds me of a strikingly similar story from a century ago, in which another female writer also gained fame through a fake ‘nature cure’ narrative.
July 8, 2025 at 7:28 AM
Why do (some) nature writers lie?
The Salt Path fiasco reminds me of a strikingly similar story from a century ago, in which another female writer also gained fame through a fake ‘nature cure’ narrative.
The Salt Path fiasco reminds me of a strikingly similar story from a century ago, in which another female writer also gained fame through a fake ‘nature cure’ narrative.
I wrote about cycles:
- running 5-mile laps at #Endure24 (wanna know how it went? see my face in the pic!)
- experiencing the extent to which my menstrual cycle shapes my running
- realising that all progress is like running progress: cyclical, not linear
Link in bio!
- running 5-mile laps at #Endure24 (wanna know how it went? see my face in the pic!)
- experiencing the extent to which my menstrual cycle shapes my running
- realising that all progress is like running progress: cyclical, not linear
Link in bio!
July 3, 2025 at 3:10 PM
I wrote about cycles:
- running 5-mile laps at #Endure24 (wanna know how it went? see my face in the pic!)
- experiencing the extent to which my menstrual cycle shapes my running
- realising that all progress is like running progress: cyclical, not linear
Link in bio!
- running 5-mile laps at #Endure24 (wanna know how it went? see my face in the pic!)
- experiencing the extent to which my menstrual cycle shapes my running
- realising that all progress is like running progress: cyclical, not linear
Link in bio!
I’ve been researching & writing about women’s lives for 20 yrs & I’ve published 4 works of life-writing. I’ve just recorded an online workshop/webinar on the subject, with guidance, info, issues, questions & exercises with which I WISH someone had presented me 20-odd yrs ago!
June 26, 2025 at 1:20 PM
I’ve been researching & writing about women’s lives for 20 yrs & I’ve published 4 works of life-writing. I’ve just recorded an online workshop/webinar on the subject, with guidance, info, issues, questions & exercises with which I WISH someone had presented me 20-odd yrs ago!
ICYMI #3: I am VERY EXCITED to be offering two in-person residential writing retreats, themed around Writing and Running.
The retreat from 11-13 Nov 2025 will be female-only.
The retreat from 7-9 January 2026 will be open to all.
Watch this space for more info!
The retreat from 11-13 Nov 2025 will be female-only.
The retreat from 7-9 January 2026 will be open to all.
Watch this space for more info!
June 16, 2025 at 9:46 AM
ICYMI #3: I am VERY EXCITED to be offering two in-person residential writing retreats, themed around Writing and Running.
The retreat from 11-13 Nov 2025 will be female-only.
The retreat from 7-9 January 2026 will be open to all.
Watch this space for more info!
The retreat from 11-13 Nov 2025 will be female-only.
The retreat from 7-9 January 2026 will be open to all.
Watch this space for more info!
ICYMI #2: I'm delighted to be running online workshops for writers on women and/or feminism. The series, called Feminist Voice, launches TODAY.
Workshop 1 is about identifying & overcoming challenges involved in writing about women & feminism in today's misogynistic climate.
Workshop 1 is about identifying & overcoming challenges involved in writing about women & feminism in today's misogynistic climate.
June 16, 2025 at 9:43 AM
ICYMI #2: I'm delighted to be running online workshops for writers on women and/or feminism. The series, called Feminist Voice, launches TODAY.
Workshop 1 is about identifying & overcoming challenges involved in writing about women & feminism in today's misogynistic climate.
Workshop 1 is about identifying & overcoming challenges involved in writing about women & feminism in today's misogynistic climate.
ICYMI #1: At the weekend, I published an extract from my work-in-progress.
It's about how nineteenth-century feminists identified links between men abusing women and men abusing animals, in intimate relationships and in the scientific world.
You can read it at the web address on the image
It's about how nineteenth-century feminists identified links between men abusing women and men abusing animals, in intimate relationships and in the scientific world.
You can read it at the web address on the image
June 16, 2025 at 9:42 AM
ICYMI #1: At the weekend, I published an extract from my work-in-progress.
It's about how nineteenth-century feminists identified links between men abusing women and men abusing animals, in intimate relationships and in the scientific world.
You can read it at the web address on the image
It's about how nineteenth-century feminists identified links between men abusing women and men abusing animals, in intimate relationships and in the scientific world.
You can read it at the web address on the image
The realisation of a connection between abused women and abused animals is not recent. It has a long history. And, in the 2nd half of the 19th century, the nature of that connection started to gain political momentum as campaigners worked for both women’s rights and animal rights.
June 14, 2025 at 11:17 AM
The realisation of a connection between abused women and abused animals is not recent. It has a long history. And, in the 2nd half of the 19th century, the nature of that connection started to gain political momentum as campaigners worked for both women’s rights and animal rights.