Jude Brosnan

The Long Field by Pamela Petro

Wales, and the Presence of Absence – A Memoir

by Pamela Petro

The Long Field burrows into the Welsh countryside to tell how the small country of Wales became a big part of American writer Pamela Petro’s life. Petro, author of Travels in an Old Tongue – Touring the World Speaking Welsh, writes about herself and Wales through the lens of hiraeth, a Welsh word famously hard to translate. (It can mean, literally, “long field.”) Hiraeth refers to a bone-deep longing for someone or something–a home, culture, language, a younger self–that you’ve lost or left behind or that was imaginary to begin with, hovering always in the future. It’s a name for the presence of absence.

London Clay: Journeys in the Deep City

London Clay is an exploration of the stories that make a city. Written in rich and vivid prose, Tom Chivers leads us on a journey to find the source of his memories, and to discover lost rivers, secret woodlands, the marshes and islands long buried beneath the city he loves.

Here, Tom explains the importance of mapping in his work:

The Book of Reykjavik: A City in Short Fiction

West Camel presents the online launch of The Book of Reykjavik, A City in Short Fiction.

Recorded on the 1st September 2021.

Part of Comma’s popular ‘Reading the City’ series, this beautiful collection includes ten stories, translated into English for the first time capturing the essence of contemporary Iceland and its writing.

Life Lessons From the Amazon by Pip Stewart

Last night we made the most of a beautiful balmy evening in Covent Garden by hosting the launch of Life Lessons From the Amazon: A Guide to Life From One Epic Jungle Adventure by Pip Stewart.

A walk in the park life…

Inspired by the scenery, hidden histories and encounters in his local park in London during the lockdowns – and with nowhere to go – Tom Chesshyre set off on a “voyage of the imagination” around parks he has enjoyed across the globe in his new book Park Life, a celebration of all things park:

It was somewhere between my tenth and twentieth weekly circumnavigation of Richmond Park, having not gone anywhere else much for months (other than my Sainsbury’s Local), that I began to slip into the rhythm of “park life”.

During that period from March 2020, I watched the landscape of London’s largest park (2,400 acres) subtly shift as green shoots of spring slowly emerged, the stark outline of ancient oaks seemingly sprinkled by heavenly herbs.

2021 winners’ announced for The Wainwright Prize for Nature and Conservation Writing

The winners of the much-loved Wainwright Prize for UK Nature Writing and for Global Conservation Writing have been announced at a live award ceremony yesterday, Tuesday 7 September, at the London Wetland Centre.

The award winners are English Pastoral by James Rebanks and Entangled Life by Merlin Sheldrake.

Book of the Month: Atlas of the Invisible

Atlas of the Invisible: Maps & Graphics That Will Change How You See the World by James Cheshire and Oliver Uberti £25.00

In our Book of the Month for September award-winning geographer-designer team James Cheshire and Oliver Uberti redefine what an atlas can be. Transforming enormous data sets into rich maps and cutting-edge visualisations, they uncover truths about our past, reflect who we are today, and highlight what we face in the years ahead. With their joyfully inquisitive approach, Cheshire and Uberti explore happiness and anxiety levels around the globe; they trace the undersea cables and cell towers that connect us; they examine hidden scars of geopolitics; and illustrate how a warming planet affects everything from hurricanes to the hajj.

Never leave home without these 5 backpacking items

-by Martyn Howe, author of Tales from the Big Trails

Over the years, my kit list has evolved from my early days of carrying almost everything I could need, to a honed collection of lightweight items, often with multiple uses. I spend the most on the big four: tent, sleeping bag, backpack and boots – balancing durability, weight and cost, but these five items will always be with me on a long backpacking trip:

Extract from Small Bodies of Water by Nina Mingya Powles

Our Book of the Month for August is Small Bodies of Water by Nina Mingya Powles, Taking us from London to New Zealand, Shanghai to Malaysia via a lyrical, poetic essay collection that blends memoir with powerful writing on the natural world. To give you an idea of what to expect from this book, here is an extract for you to read:

Lake District Guides and Maps

Friday 13th August marks 70 years of the Lake District National Park as it was founded in 1951.

Home to Scafell Pike, the highest mountain in England, the Lake District is steeped in history and a popular holiday destination for anyone who enjoys the great outdoors . It is the perfect place to enjoy scenic walks, visit market towns such as Kendal, Ambleside and Keswick, swim in the famous lakes and tarns, go fell-running and Wainwright hill-bagging, to name just a few things this magnificent National Park and World Heritage Site has to offer.

If you love the Lake District or are planning to visit, here are some of our favourite guides and maps: