Wild Belongings: Stories of Rewilding in William Morris's News from Nowhere and Diane Setterfield's Once Upon a River.

Bennett, P. (2026) Wild Belongings: Stories of Rewilding in William Morris's News from Nowhere and Diane Setterfield's Once Upon a River. Green Letters. 1468-8417.

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Bennett_2026_Wild_Belongings_Stories_of_Rewilding_in_William_Morris_s_News_from_Nowhere_and_Diane_Setterfield_s_Once_Upon_a_River.pdf - Published Version
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Abstract:

In contemporary Anglophone non-fiction, writers have increasingly taken to describing their personal experiences of rewilding. It is in fictional works, however, that we historically find the most visionary approach to rewilding, from William Morris’s utopian romance News from Nowhere (1890) to Diane Setterfield’s neo-Victorian novel Once Upon a River (2019). In comparing these two works, one of them written in and the other set in the late nineteenth century, this essay notes their respective authors’ shared concerns to dismantle ontological priorities, establish new partnerships, and build futures based on social and environmental justice. In so doing, the two writers understand the importance of storytelling in imagining what a rewilded future might mean, and in encouraging us to work toward achieving a rewilded world.

Uncontrolled Keywords:

William Morris, Diane Setterfield, Rewilding, Utopia, Neo-Victorianism

Creators:

Bennett, P.

Date:

20 September 2026

Date Type:

Publication

Journal or Publication Title:

Green Letters

Number of Pages:

Language:

English

ISSN:

1468-8417

Status:

Published / Disseminated

Refereed:

Yes