Gilbert White’s House in Selborne will host six contemporary nature writers for its Watching Narrowly book festival on March 8.

It is being organised in partnership with Petersfield bookshop One Tree Books, which will be selling natural history books.

Opening proceedings will be butterfly expert Matthew Oates, who writes for Nature Notebook in The Times and lived around Selborne for 20 years. His new book A Beginner’s Guide to British Butterflies will be published on March 13. The second speaker is Simon Martin, curator, writer, art historian and head of collections and exhibitions at Pallant House Gallery in Chichester. For his book Drawn to Nature Simon gathered and commissioned joyful and beautiful images of the dazzling array of wildlife described by Gilbert White. Chloe Dalton burst into nature writing in 2024 with the remarkable true story Raising Hare, her debut book after a decade working in parliament and as a special adviser to the foreign secretary focused on human rights and international justice. Joining remotely will be natural history writer - and authority on Gilbert White - Richard Mabey. After studying at Oxford University he worked in further education before becoming a senior editor at Penguin Books. His latest book is Turning the Boat for Home, published in 2019.

Roger Morgan-Grenville was a soldier in the Royal Green Jackets from 1978 until 1986. In the spring of 2022 he walked 1,000 miles through Britain from Lymington to Cape Wrath, assessing the state of British nature and meeting people working to restore it, a story told in Across a Waking Land.

Finally, Professor Paul Rodhouse will be discussing his new work Antarctic Whaling: A Case Study in Near Extinction. Paul developed his interests in natural history and art growing up in Hampshire.

For tickets, priced £50 (discounts for Gilbert White’s House and Gardens members and under-21s), visit gilbertwhiteshouse.org.uk