Latest news
Writing retreats in the Outer Hebrides
Further to our plans to offer writers’ retreats here in the wild and beautiful Western Isles, we now have some courses and some dates to offer. From September 28 – October 5 this year we’ll be running a ‘Re-enchanting the Earth’ retreat for both men and women. (We’ll also be running this retreat in […]
Latest nature writing
Guest post: The Wisdom of Stones by Ian Hill
Approaching along the track, it is hard to see why this place was chosen: a subtle lip in the curve of the hillside; a slackening of the steep slope which falls from fell top to lake, is all there is to suggest any difference in the structure of the rock. Perhaps there were outcrops of […]
Latest ecopoetry
Impure Thoughts by Matt Howard
… in the hearts of some men there still is sanctuary where the lark nests safely. ‘The Triumph of the Machine’ by D.H. Lawrence As this is my maiden blog, I feel I should first declare my hand. I work for a conservation organisation but am in no way trained as an ecologist. I am […]
Latest visual arts & film
Artful Knowing and Weaving in the Wild: a guest post by Chris Seeley and James Aldridge
Chris Seeley and James Aldridge reflect, from their respective places and experiences, on the small creative steps that bring them into contact with the immediacy of their surroundings, and closer to a sense of themselves as ecological beings. Chris Seeley leads an MA programme in Sustainability and Responsibility at Ashridge Business School and works with […]
Latest on community, land, activism
Finchley Road, by Vivienne Palmer
I hear her before I see her, a low droning that is audible over the sound of the traffic on the Finchley Road. Weaving from side to side, between the black rubbish bags and the dirty plate glass windows, is a queen Buff-Tailed Bumblebee, as big as the end of my thumb. The warmer weather […]
Latest book reviews
Book Review: Harvest by Jim Crace
Harvest, by Jim Crace Picador, 2013. £16.99 Hardback, 320 pages. ISBN: 978 0330445665 Review by Jane Stewart Jane Stewart is a writer who lives and works in Scotland. She contributed to The Cambridge Guide to Women’s Writing in English (ed. Lorna Sage, 1999) and The Chambers Biographical Dictionary of Women (ed. Melanie Parry, 1996) and has a […]
Latest on navigating collapse
Fixers and Chuckers by David Knowles
It started long ago with fishing rods and bicycles. They were a real challenge for a boy brought up more on a diet of chemistry sets and slide-rules than spanners and saws. Most recently it has been wellie boots and sunglasses. Less technically demanding – but given the cost of a good hard-wearing pair of […]
Latest myth & story
Iorgavan and the Dracul; The Reality of Being Here
Nick Hunt is a writer and journalist living in London. His work is concerned with loss and beasts, and he is currently working on his first book, based on an eight-month walk across Europe in the footsteps of the late Patrick Leigh Fermor. His articles, travel writing and short stories can be found at nickhuntscrutiny.com […]
Latest environmental communication
Tweeting in the Forests
One of the outcomes of the successful battle to save England’s Public Forest Estate from a government sell-off back in 2011 was the recognition of the power of social media as a part of environmental communication. At the time the Guardian environment reporter Fiona Harvey called it a ‘victory for social media’, while 38 Degrees […]
