Boardman Tasker Award for Mountain Literature 2019 – The Winner

Our Congratulations to Kate Harris for winning the 2019 Boardman Tasker Award for Mountain Literature with her book ‘Lands of Lost Borders’.

A gripping account of an epic journey, fraught with difficulties and dangers, made by the writer and her partner following the old Silk Road through many different countries.

Chair of Judges, Roger Hubank, says of the book:

“Readers of mountain books of my generation were brought up on the great epics: the Germans and Austrians on Nanga Parbat, the French on Annapurna, the Americans on K2, the Brits on Everest. Lands of Lost Borders, which has nothing to do with the great 8000 metre peaks, nevertheless reads like an expedition epic. It offers a gripping account of a challenging journey, fraught with many difficulties and dangers, following the old Silk Road. Each day a plunge into the unknown. As one of my fellow judges said, ‘the writing is suffused throughout with a sense of exuberance and joy in the present moment, and illuminated with such keen-eyed observations that its images linger long in the reader’s imagination"‘.

I myself was put in mind, again and again, of the question put by the great 19th C. explorer Sir Martin Conway:

‘What truth is it lies behind those mountain walls that is a lie here in the world beyond?’

Certainly ‘Land of Lost Borders’ might very well, in the words of the rubric,‘challenge and inspire readers’ to look at the world in a different way.’ It’s a truly life-affirming book.

Read the full speech here.

Here is a video of the announcement of the winner:

The Boardman Tasker Trust was established to promote literature by providing an annual award to authors of literary works, the central theme of which is concerned with the mountain environment. The prize of £3,000 commemorates the lives of Peter Boardman and Joe Tasker and is given to the author or co-authors of an original work, which has made an outstanding contribution to mountain literature. The award event takes place every November at Kendal Mountain Literature Festival, which is part of Kendal Mountain Festival.