Much-loved as a genial and good-humoured commentator of modern life, Bill Bryson was born in 1951 is an American–British writer and began his career as a journalist.

Author of popular nonfiction books, Bryson’s work include Notes from a Small Island, A Short History of Nearly Everything, and A Walk in the Woods.

Bryson's Christchurch 

A self-confessed Anglophile and lover of the English countryside, Bryson has been a stalwart support of the Campaign for the Protection of Rural England.

Byson lived in Christchurch and said, “[Christchurch Priory] is my first love among English churches... Christchurch, Dorset, was where my wife and I lived when we were first married. I passed through the grounds of the priory almost daily for two years, and I could never do so without stopping to gawp at its magnificence. Stone doesn’t get more glorious than this.”

Get creative: writing prompts

Have a walk around Christchurch with fresh eyes, if you have been before or live locally, try to take in all the details as if were your first time.

Rites of passage

Describe an important ‘threshold moment’ in someone’s life, either your own, a loved one, or a fictional character.

It could be a wedding, christening or baptism, funeral, graduation, promotion, or retirement. Evoke the senses, weave in period detail and local colour, and make it as vivid as possible.

Notes from a small town

Write about your immediate environment as though you are a visitor from a different country. Defamiliarize everything, and highlight how odd and amusing British culture is. 

A walk in the woods 

Bryson described an attempt to walk the Appalachian Trial with an old friend. Go for a walk in the New Forest, and describe it, or use it as a backdrop for a fictionalised encounter between two people.

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