Saraband to publish Symphonic, by ‘predominant nature writer’ Jim Crumley – a passionate celebration of our planet and a plea for advocacy

 Saraband is set to publish Symphonic: Harmony in Nature and Why It Matters by ‘predominant writer on the natural world’ Jim Crumley, a lyrical and personal account of Crumley’s lifelong quest to find harmony in nature as he celebrates our precious planet, on 12th February 2026. Saraband’s Publisher Sara Hunt has acquired UK and Ireland rights from Jenny Brown at Jenny Brown Associates.

Renowned nature writer Jim Crumley draws on more than six decades of immersion in wild landscapes to explore the profound harmony at the heart of the natural world—and why it matters now more than ever.

With the lyrical clarity and passionate advocacy that have made him Scotland’s foremost nature commentator, Crumley weaves together close observation, personal encounters, and ecological insight to reveal nature as a vast, interconnected symphony. He argues that our survival depends on relearning how to listen to the land, to recognise our place within the great orchestration of life rather than apart from it. Through evocative prose built on his expertise and care, Crumley urges us to defend the beauty and balance of the living world, offering both a celebration and a clarion call.

Symphonic is a vital testament from a writer whose life’s work is a passionate defence and celebration of nature’s enduring—and endangered—harmony.

Sara Hunt, Publisher at Saraband, says, “I’m delighted to have acquired Symphonic, a book that is as inspirational as it is profound, and to be working with Jim Crumley again. Bringing together a lifetime’s observation and fieldwork, and written with poetic eloquence, this book is both a joy to read and an important defence of our precious planet and its wildlife.”

Jenny Brown says, “Whether writing about bald eagles, tall trees, swans, wild hyacinths, wolves or silences, Symphonic presents Jim Crumley’s distilled wisdom drawn from a lifetime observing nature. A beautiful, timely and essential book.”

Jim Crumley added, “Given that my life has been one of words and music (writing and reading, playing and listening), as well as a total immersion in nature, I reached a point when I realised that as well as watching nature at work with a view to writing it down, I was also listening to it more intently; that listening to its eternal themes and variations had become essential to unearthing the very nature of landscape. Music began with the sounds of the Earth, and long after the people are extinct, Earth music will go on without them. In the meantime, it seems to me that writing nature is a symphonic endeavour. This book then, is the result of my pursuit of that endeavour.”