Sally Coulthard


Sally Coulthard is an English non-fiction author, who has published over thirty books in the areas of nature, craft, rural life and social history. Topics range from folklore, farm animals, wildlife and rural buildings, to A Brief History of the Countryside in 100 Objects, which was a Waterstones Best Book of 2024 for Nature Writing. She connects the histories of cooking, plants, animals, people and businesses with literature, folklore, and mythology using a "warmly wry narrative voice" according to the Times Literary Supplement. For Fowl Play: A History of Chicken from Dinosaur to Dinner Plate, Coulthard was complimented on the quality of her research into complex issues with real consequences. Through her books and her column in Country Living, Coulthard also gives practical advice on topics like 50 ways to help save the bees and the use of cold frames.

Early life

Sally Coulthard was born September 1974 and raised in Calverley, a village in West Yorkshire. After studying Archaeology & Anthropology at Keble College, Oxford, she worked in television production for a number of years before moving back to Yorkshire to become a writer.

Career

Coulthard has published more than thirty non-fiction books on nature, rural life and history, and craft. She is represented by Graham Maw Christie literary agents. Coulthard is also a columnist for Country Living magazine and Yorkshire Life magazine.

Personal life

Coulthard lives on a smallholding in the Howardian Hills, North Yorkshire with her husband James Gordon-Finlayson and their three daughters.