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I'm thrilled to announce that Prompted by Nature has been shortlisted in the podcast category for a Bookshop.org Indie Champion Award. This was completely unexpected and I immediately felt sick when I got the initial email a couple of weeks ago!
I wanted to record a quick episode to share this news, and a little about my writing sabbatical, with you.
Thank you for listening and supporting this podcast. I'm so happy you're here; I'll be back soon (and remember you can always find me on Substack www.promptedbynature.substack.com , on Instagram @prompted.by.nature and my bookshop.org shop is here: https://uk.bookshop.org/shop/promptedbynature )
And of course a HUGE thank you Bookshop.org for recognising the podcast and for having it on your shortlist - it means everyhing to me.
Sending you lots of love,
Helen x
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Hello, welcome to series 6, episode 5 of the Prompted by Nature podcast. I’m your host, Helen, and this is the final episode for some time. I’ve made the difficult decision to put the podcast on ‘indefinite sabbatical’ so that I can be more present and consistent with my writing. I have a short solo episode coming up to talk about it but you can get all the updates on my Substack newsletter. Just search ‘Prompted by Nature’ on the app or website.
Onto today’s episode. Today, I’m speaking with Lucy Power from Rowanbank Environmental Arts & Education. This is a conversation we actually had before the summer and with summer holidays taking me away from anything other than my kids it fell by the wayside a little. I’m so happy to be releasing it now though as it’s full of hope and creativity.
Lucy is the director of Rowanbank. Rowanbank Environmental Arts & Education CIC is a social enterprise, combining science with the arts to bring people together to enjoy and learn how to better care for their environment. They engage people in an imaginative and inclusive way, helping them to connect with and experience the magic of nature.
Lucy is a Climate Ambassador with Climate Outreach, and has been awarded a Churchill Fellowship in creative climate communication and education. Lucy is a qualified Forest School Leader and an EcoHomes and BREEAM Assessor. Lucy is also an aerial performer and teacher for All or Nothing Aerial Dance Theatre and Dance Base, Scotland’s national centre for dance. Lucy has worked successfully with schools, community organisations, government agencies and the private sector.
In this conversation we discuss:
What Rowanbank is and how it came about
How Rowanbank merges art and science to make environmental education more accessible and exciting
The Natural Flights of Steps and the part it plays in Rowanbank
The importance of carbon literacy and finding a variety of ways to teach this
Rowanbank’s commitment to sustainable transport
Rowanbank’s collaborative approach to creating stories
Sustainable costume design
The advice she would give to her younger self
What she has coming up that she’s looking forward to
You can find Lucy on her website www.rowanbank.org.uk and social media @rowanbank_environmental_arts
Episodes that would go really well with this one are:
1.13a Dawn Nelson, Rewilding the Self through Storytelling
5.6a Angeline Morrison, Folk Music as Storytelling
5,10a Moya Lloyd, Building a Creative Community at the Boundary Way Project
As always I’m on Instagram @prompted.by.nature, on my website www.promptedbynature.co.uk and on Substack, where you can become a free or paid subscriber - Prompted by Nature.
I’ll be back soon with the writing prompt that accompanies this episode. Sending you lots of love. Happy listening and I’ll speak to you soon. Bye! -
Manglende episoder?
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Hello! Welcome series 6 episode 4 of the Prompted by Nature podcast. I’m Helen, your host and today I’m thrilled to release a conversation I had earlier this week With Marchelle Farrell. Long-time listeners of the podcast will remember Marchelle from series 2 episode 10 - a conversation we recorded what feels like a lifetime ago, in November 2020.
Marchelle has a new book out, Uprooting, and it was wonderful to chat up with Marchelle and talk all things gardens and writing.
In this episode, we discuss:
What Marchelle has been up for over the past two years Her new book, Uprooting, what’s about and how it came to be The reciprocal nature of the garden Redefining difficult conversations The importance of grief and mourning Non-verbal communication and writing The creative advice she’d give her younger self What she’s looking forward toUprooting has already won an award in the shape of the Nan Shepherd prize for underrepresented voices in nature writing. I urge you to read this book - it is profound and complex and explores Marchelle’s relationship with her garden as well as how these brings up connections to her beloved Trinidad.
Uprooting is out now in your local bookshop or library - and remember that you can always ask them to order it in if they don’t already stock it. Marchelle is usually to be found on Instagram under the handle @afroliage and on her website www.marchellefarrell.com where you can find upcoming dates of her book tour and speaking events.
Just a little note that the connection was a little sketchy at times but I don’t think it affects meaning.
Episodes that would go well with this one:
2.10a - My Garden, My Teacher - Marchelle Farrell
6.1a - All My Wild Mothers - Victoria Bennett
5.9a Writing in Place - Kathryn Aalto
As always, I’m on instagram @prompted.by.nature or on the website www.promptedbynature.co.uk . You can also sign up for my Substack on www.promptedbynature.substack.com
Sending you lots of love.
Happy listening, and I’ll speak to you soon.
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Hello and welcome to your writing prompt for my conversation with Katie Holten. For this one there are a couple of invitations.
The first is to, of course, download Katie’s tree alphabet as a font to your computer and have a play. It’s really fun turning your words into a forest and seeing that forest come alive on the page. You could write something new, inspired by the letters as trees, or translate an existing piece into the tree alphabet.
www.treealphabet.ie
The second invitation is to put the title of this episode on a sheet of paper and see where it takes you. The title is ‘I write with the trees.’ I love this title because it could go in any and all directions. for me, it conjures up images of future communities and societies in which humans dream things into being in collaboration with the trees and the more-than-human world.
It might be that, having listened to the conversation, or even read the book, you have been inspired to created something totally different from these suggestions, in which case, go for it!
Have fun with it and let me know how you get on if you use this one!
Happy writing! Bye!
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Welcome to series 6, episode 3 of the Prompted by Nature podcast. I’m Helen and I’m really happy to be back with this conversation with Katie Holten. As I mentioned previously, because art and nature are so inextricably linked for me, this week’s action point, should you wish to get involved, is on the episode page for this conversation over on the website.
This week we’ll be hearing from the very wonderful Katie Holten. Katie Holten is an artist and activist based in New York City and Ardee, Ireland. For over twenty years Katie has made unconventional works that intersect art, activism, ecology, language and history. At the root of her practice is a commitment to fighting the climate and biodiversity emergency. Her collaborative research-based work explores the inextricable relationship between Humans and Nature, between organic systems and human-made systems. Several years ago, recognizing a looming crisis of representation as our species adapts to life in the Anthropocene, Holten created a Tree Alphabet and published the book ABOUT TREES, offering readers a language beyond the Human. During lockdown, Holten made an Irish Tree Alphabet (2020) to explore language ecosystems and the importance of our words and the stories that we share.
In this conversation we discuss:
Her new book, the Language of trees, how it came about and Katie’s process in putting it all together
Katie’s NYC Tree Alphabet and its wider implications
The magic of the Irish Tree Ogham
Art as facilitation of ideas
The book as a merging of science, poetry, journalism and music
Art as activism
The impact that her upbringing in Ireland has had on her work
The importance of community spaces in environmental activism
The creative advice she would give to her younger self and what she’s looking forward to
I love how far-reaching art and creativity can be when it comes to communicating about the urgency of climate collapse and climate justice as well as how connected we all are in order to inspire people to get involved in whatever way they can.
The Language of Trees is a stunning book filled with the words of some incredible writers from all genres and the beautiful artwork created by Katie’s tree alphabet. It’s out now and you can get it at your favourite independent bookshop. I’ve also popped in the Prompted by Nature bookshop over on https://uk.bookshop.org/shop/promptedbynature . You can download the font here: http://www.nyctrees.org/
Episodes that would go well with this episode:
5.2a Amy-Jane Beer: The Flow
5.1a Bryony Benge-Abbott: Exploring the Intersections
4.13a Jackee Holder: Writing with Trees in the Urban Landscape
3.7a Rosalind Lowry: Land Art: Celebrating our Boglands
You can find me in the usual places - on Twitter, Instagram and Facebook and on the website www.promptedbynature.co.uk You can subscribe to my Substack newsletter over on Substack by going to https://promptedbynature.substack.com/ Thank you to my paid subscribers who help support this podcast and get lots of treats like the e-zine and write-along bonus episodes. Please do consider becoming a paid subscriber if you are able to.
I’ll be back in a few days with the writing prompt that accompanies this episode but in the meantime I’m sending you lots of love.
Happy listening and I’ll speak to you soon! x -
In my conversation with Katherine, she spoke about creativity as a form of resistance. This is something that really resonates with me as it kind of underpins everything I do. When we stay present and connected, think creatively and allow this to guide us through the world, we are actively shaping the world we want to see; not just that but we become active participants in our own individual lives, which then feeds into a stronger, more rounded and imaginative collective.
Often it can feel as if being creative doesn’t contribute in any tangible ways but we only need to look at groups like Writers Rebel, Cape Farewell, Julie’s Bicycle and Human Nature (all links in the show notes) so see that creative, artistic practice can feed into the move to a better future. Art invites us to think about topics or ideas in new and interesting ways, challenging our pre-conceptions and unconscious biases.
For this prompt, create something that explores the idea of creativity as resistance in your own work. The first thing that comes to mind when I consider this is the word resistance and how, by just forming that word in my mind, I feel a resistance. It evokes thoughts of anger and oppression in me, and makes me think of all the times someone has told me I couldn’t or shouldn’t do something I knew was the right thing to do, even if it wasn’t the most comfortable at the time - or the times when I’v told myself I couldn’t do something because of imposter syndrome or not feeling good/capable/knowledgeable (fill in the blank!) enough. Conversely though it makes me feel like what I’m doing means something; it makes me feel powerful and strong. I am actively resisting the things I know are not right and am trying, in whatever small way I can, to make a difference. There are so many nuances to the word ‘resistance’ and working with it as a starting point is something you might consider doing.
What about asking what it is you are resisting? Explore this idea to its limits and then begin. Perhaps go through the same process with the word creativity. Then put the two together and see what emerges.
Most of all, if you are a creative - and I imagine that you are if you’re listening to this podcast - please keep going with your creative work, whatever form that takes. The more of us who are sharing our experience of the more-than-human world as a response to biodiversity and climate collapse, the more we inspire others to do the same. Art as a form of expression and protest is by no means a new thing and we can all be a part of what nurtures that into the future.
Please do let me know if you use this one - even if just to share one word on my Substack or in a story, which you can tag me in on Instagram @prompted.by.nature or you can mention me in a note over on Substack if you’re a user, and I’ll restack your note.
Thank you as always for listening. Happy writing and I’ll speak to you soon. Bye!
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Welcome to series 6, episode 2 of the Prompted by Nature. I’m Helen and I hope this finds you well. Lots going on on this side of things but I’m going to jump straight into today’s episode.
If you enjoy non-fiction at the moment today you may have heard of today’s guest, Katherine May.
Katherine is an internationally bestselling author and podcaster living in Whitstable, UK. Her most recent book, Enchantment became an instant New York Times and Sunday Times bestseller. Her internationally bestselling hybrid memoir Wintering: The Power of Rest and Retreat in Difficult Times was adapted as BBC Radio 4’s Book of the Week, and was shortlisted for the Porchlight and Barnes and Noble Book of the Year. The Electricity of Every Living Thing, her memoir of a midlife autism diagnosis, was adapted as an audio drama by Audible. Other titles include novels such as The Whitstable High Tide Swimming Club, and The Best, Most Awful Job, an anthology of essays about motherhood which she edited. Her journalism and essays have appeared in a range of publications including The New York Times, The Observer and Aeon.
Katherine’s podcast, How We Live Now, ranks in the top 1% worldwide, and she has been a guest presenter for On Being’s The Future of Hope series. Her next book, Enchantment, will be published in 2023. Katherine lives with her husband, son, two cats and a dog. She loves walking, sea-swimming and pickling slightly unappealing things.
In this conversation we discuss:
The weather!
The importance of hope and magic
The process of writing Enchantment
Creativity as resistance
AI and creativity in education
Forms & lineages of creativity
Mutation over survival of the fittest
The process of ‘unknowing’ in her work
Researching Enchantment
The advice she’d give to her 15-year old self
What she’s looking forward to
You can find Kathrine’s Substack newsletter and podcast over at https://katherinemay.substack.com/ - I highly recommend subscribing to this as it’s completely wonderful. You can find all of her books at your local bookshop or library (and if they don’t have the one you’re after, ask them order it in) and I’ve also popped Enchantment in the ‘Discussed on the Podcast’ section of my bookshop over at www.bookshop.org
Epsiodes that I think would go well with this one are:
1.10a Finding Magic in the Landscape, Jini Reddy
2.6a Art as Play, Beba Beeby
4.12a Soraya Abdel-Hadi, Finding my Creative Voice through Nature
5.11a Creating a Folklore of Place with Elin Manon
As always, you can find me on the website www.promptedbynature.co.uk where you can find prompts, the pod and information about my upcoming woodland day retreat here in Sussex. I’m also on Substack https://promptedbynature.substack.com or you can find me on Instagram @prompted.by.nature or Facebook and Twitter by searching Prompted by Nature. Please do share, rate and review the podcast wherever you’re listening as this means the WORLD to me!! And do tag me on social media if you’ve enjoyed this or any other episode.
I’ll be back in a few days with the writing prompt that accompanies this episode but in the meantime I’ll send you lots of love. Happy listening and I’ll speak to you soon!
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Welcome to your writing prompt for my conversation with Victoria Bennett.
Writing prompt, some news and an apology for this episodes tardiness! Thank you for your patience. <3
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When I listened back to the episode with Victoria, what I remember most is her thoughts around the use of time in writing a memoir. She describes the process as engaging three forms of time: deep time, long time and momentary time.
‘I think that that combination of deep time in the Earth and long time in our sense of humanity and momentary time, all exist together, so in memoir writing, memories from my early childhood would sit alongside memories as a mother - with my son - so experiences of present moments and then memories of my mother are in there, and then her memories of her childhood. And so all these memories would kind of interweave with each other and speak to each other. But looking back into memories was a bit like that, finding these pottery shards in a garden because I would start and I would look back and think, ‘that's a terrible memory’, and then it's like, ‘that's a wonderful bit of pottery!’ So I'd find these moments that would be as alive and as present as the one I was in, and their stories that they had would be as present and and as revealing. I suppose if I'd written it all off as being terrible I wouldn't have bothered…’
The invitation here then, is to create three pieces: one that engages with deep time, one with long time and one with momentary time. These could take the form of journal entries, be three pieces of free writing, poems on the themes or something completely different. This is the sort of thing I like to write about in my morning pages as I find that in that liminal spaces between night and day, I’m the most alert to more abstract concepts such as time.
Enjoy this one and let me know how you get on if you use it.
Happy writing!
Helen x
https://promptedbynature.substack.com
www.promptedbynature.co.uk
@prompted.by.nature
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Hello and welcome to series 6 of the Prompted by Nature podcast! Happy Beltane if you’re listening in real time and are celebrating! I’m Helen and I’m thrilled to be back after a little break. Not much has changed - read a few books, had some time out in Glastonbury, released this season’s newsletter over on Substack - get subscribed if you’re not already! - and generally had time to write and to get back to my own voice.
The action point for each episode will now be up on each episode’s page on the website.
Today’s episode is the perfect conversation to open with. It’s slightly longer than usual as we covered so much ground. We had to re-schedule it a few times due to covid and ended up speaking on the libra full moon - perfect for two chatty libras!
Victoria Bennet lives in Orkney with her husband and son, for whom she is also a full-time carer and home-educator. She is a writer, poet and creative producer, who founded Wild Women Press in 1999 and has spent the last 21 years facilitating creative experiences and curating platforms for women to share ideas, stories, inspirations and actions for positive change. Victoria has a wealth of creative experience and I encourage you to explore her website for all the information.
Victoria’s debut memoir, which we discuss in the episode, All My Wild Mothers, examines motherhood, loss, and the ancient art of wort-cunning (knowledge of medicinal plans and herbs) was long-listed for the Nan Shepherd Prize (2019) and the Penguin WriteNow Programme (2020) as well as winner of the Northern Debut Award.
When she is not juggling home-ed, freelance creative projects, research, study and chronic illness, she can be found howling with the Wild Women, her creative tribe.
In this conversation, we discuss:
What took her to Orkney The process of writing All My Wild Mothers The symbiosis of writing and gardening Creativity and ecology The impact of her upbringing on her interactions with nature The structure of the book Choosing presence in both grief and joy Combining deep time, long time and momentary time in the writing process Re-finding creativity after loss Writing and memory Wild Women Press and prioritising creative projectsAnd, two new questions for everyone:
The advice Victoria would give to her younger self What she’s looking forward toYou can find Victoria on Twitter and Instagram @beewlyd and on her website www.victoriabennett.me I’ve also popped the video created for the book using music inspired by it on the episode page on my website. You can find All My Wild Mothers via any independent bookshop or you can order it from the library. It’s also available on my Prompted by Nature bookshop. And if you’re in a book club, I highly recommend taking Victoria up on her offer of coming along to any online meet-up to talk about the book.
No change with me, I’m on @prompted.by.nature on Instagram, @promptedbynature on Facebook and @promptedxnature on Twitter plus you can subscribe to my Substack newsletter, read the latest on the blog and find out about upcoming events via my website www.promptedbynature.co.uk
Remember to pop back on Tuesday for the writing episode that follows this one.
Happy listening and I’ll speak to you soon. Bye!
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Welcome to your writing prompt for my conversation with LiLi K Bright and the final epsiode of series 5. This one isn't so much of a writing prompt specifically as it is an invitation to do something different in your creative practice (as the title suggests!).
LiLi talked about the inspiration they gain from attending ecology and naturalist talks and events as well as joining writers hours and social events. I was hugely inspired by this as something of which I don’t do nearly enough is attending events and courses which will shift my focus in unexpected ways and help me to engage with like-minded folk.
Since my chat with LiLi, I’ve signed up for some free and paid events in the coming months that I hope will both inform and enrich my writing, providing different perspectives - both scientific and artistic - that will allow me to go deeper into my understanding of the mechanisms of nature and where they intersect with a range of diverse creative forms. I think when you’ve been teaching and creating and holding space for people for as long as I have, it’s really easy to become quite isolated. This hasn’t been intentional but I’ve always been very ‘do it myself’ even when I don’t have to be; sometimes this can be a good thing and sometimes it can work out to my detriment.
So for you then, think about how you might want to diversify and expand your creative practice, or gain insights into areas you’ve always wondered about. There are lots of free and low cost events out there now as well as paid for courses. I’ve popped a couple of resources below and on the episode page of the website if you want to have an explore.
So that’s it for series 5! I told myself I’d stop for this series after 13 episodes and I think you’ll agree, we’ve ended on a high! I’ll be back in a few short weeks after I’ve had a bit of a break to tend to my writing and facilitating. If you’re interested in attending any of my future events - online or in-person - just pop through to the events page on my website www.promptedbynature.co.uk Otherwise you can always find me on my Substack (where I’ve been really enjoying posting my weekly prompts and getting to know a few of you a bit better!) promptedbynature.substack.com and Instagram @prompted.by.nature. All links can be found in the show notes and on the episode page on the website.
In the meantime, please do reach out if you have any insights from any of these episodes and conversations or if you use any of the prompts and want to share how it went.
Happy writing, happy creating and I’ll speak to you very soon.
Helen x
Free course platforms:
https://www.mooc.org/
https://www.edx.org/
https://www.conservationtraining.org/
https://www.open.edu/openlearn/nature-environment/free-courses
Also look into your local conservation charity if you're looking for nature-related courses. Sussex Wildlife Trust near me, for example, often runs tree and wildlife ID courses.
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Episode transcription available here: https://www.promptedbynature.co.uk/podcast-transcripts
Welcome to series 5, episode 14 of the Prompted by Nature podcast.
Action point: See episode page on my website.
Substack newsletter: Sign up for the free subscription via the link in the show notes or by searching ‘Prompted by Nature’ on the app. If you’d like to go paid, I’m offering this at 30% off the monthly option until 30th April.
Onto today’s episode!
LiLi K. Bright is a writer and workshop facilitator who’s obsessed with city nature. They write climate fiction and ecopoetry, and their main poetry project is about migration, liberation, London, Freetown, Accra, and the painted lady butterfly, exploring textile arts as part of their creative process. They love supporting people to connect with nature and creativity by facilitating writing workshops, climate science training and nonviolent communication training.
In this conversation we discuss:
LiLi’s insights into a multi-media approach to their creativity The merging of science and art in their work and the ways in which these disciplines can interact Their relationship with nature, how it developed and how it has shifted and changed LiLi’s fascination with trees and birds Wellbeing for writers and reframing ‘time management’ How LiLi approaches their creative practiceAll link to the website and events that LiLi mentions in our chat are in the show notes on the episode page of the website. You can find LiLi on their website https://cherrytreewalk.com and Instagram @cherrytree_walk
Companion epiodes:
1.8a Ian Solomon-Kawall: Biodiversity, Creativity and Safe Space in Urban Settings
2.1a Avni Trivedi: Reconnecting with the Wisdom of the Body
4.5a Cheryl Duerden: In a Land of Giants, Empathetic Forestry
5.1a Bryony Benge-Abbott: Exploring the Intersections
As always, I’m on Instagram @prompted.by.nature and the website www.promptedbynature.co.uk where you can find upcoming nature writing courses and day retreats here in East Sussex.
Happy listening and I’ll speak to you soon.
Helen x
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The transcript for this episode can be found here: https://www.promptedbynature.co.uk/podcast-transcripts
Hello and welcome to your writing prompt for my conversation with Caro Giles. So, obviously, this one is going to be moon-related! I often write with the moon and have created materials helping others to do the same. About 7 years ago, back when challenges were in, I ran the Follow the Moon challenge, followed by the ‘Create by the Moon’ challenges a couple of years later and this latter piece of work I’m in the process of turning into a workbook, which will be out in the summer - free to Substack subscribers on the paid level.
To get us started though, I wanted to think about how we can use the energy of each moon phase to influence our writing and then extend this to consider the names of each full moon, as Caro does in Twelve Moons, and how these can form ongoing prompts for our words.
Over on the blog, you’ll find a post about turning each phase of the moon into a character (link is in the show notes) and this is a really good exercise to familiarise yourself with the energy of each phase if you’re newer to it all, or just want another perspective.
So going from new to full moon:
New moon - intention setting Waxing crescent - planning Waxing half - balance, making decisions Waxing gibbous - problem-solving Full moon - manifestation, clarity and understanding Waning gibbous - self-evaluation, patience and letting go Waning half - cleansing and transformation Waning crescent (balsamic) - reflection/introspection Dark moon - quiet/silenceOnce we are familiar with the energy of each moon phase, we can start to see how these could be articulated in the settings and characters we create. For example, a setting that might reflect the waning half moon, could be a cascading stream in the early hours of the morning. How might that feel? What does the natural world feel like at that time of day? If the full moon were a character, perhaps they might be a creator or agitator, an activist or someone who works to shed light on a subject.
Then you might like to start looking at the different names given to the full moon by different cultures and traditions throughout the world. There’s the wolf moon, the cold moon, the harvest moon and more! Use your imagination and envision settings and events that might happen under each moon, each taking on the energy and meaning given to it by the ancestors.
Pop over to the post on the blog for more ideas, get researching and see how you get on. I love working with the moon in my own life and using its phases as a creative prompt is such a wonderful way to enrich your own practice, especially if you’re ever feeling a bit lacking in inspiration.
Keep looking up, my friends!
As always you can find me on www.promptedbynature.co.uk where you can find links to my Substack newsletter and get information on my forthcoming day retreats and nature writing courses down here in East Sussex. I’m also to be found @prompted.by.nature on Instagram.
Happy writing and I’ll speak to you soon!
Helen x
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The transcript for this episode can be found here: https://www.promptedbynature.co.uk/podcast-transcripts
Action point: donate if you can, to the Turkey/Syria Earthquake fund appeal through the DEC (www.dec.org.uk) if you’re in the UK or through the charities working in your country to help. Please ensure they are legitimate, reputable charities before donating.
Before I tell you about today’s conversation, I wanted to remind you that my Substack newsletter is now available via the Substack app or in your inbox when you sign up. You can sign up for a free or paid subscription - £5pm or £40pa (a saving of £1.70 on the monthly price). All information about what is included in each option is over on my Substack page https://promptedbynature.substack.com/ and in the show notes for the this episode. I hope you’ll join me for more prompts, workbooks, e-zines and nature-inspired creativity and community.
Back to the episode!
Today, I’m thrilled to release my conversation with the lovely Caro Giles, whose book, Twelve Moons is now available and published by HarperNorth.
Caro Giles is a writer based in Northumberland. Her words are inspired by her local landscape, the wide empty beaches and the Cheviot Hills. She writes honestly about what it means to be a woman, a mother and a carer, and about the value in taking the road less travelled. Her writing appears in journals, press and periodicals, including a monthly column in Psychologies. In 2021 she was named BBC Countryfile's New Nature Writer of the Year.
In this conversation, we discuss:
The story behind the memoir and how Caro came to write Twelve Moons The part a master’s played in Caro’s work Accountability in your writing practice How she found her unique voice following motherhood and the breakdown of her marriage How her role as a parent-carer has impacted her voice and the way that she approaches her work Caro’s personal relationship with the moon How Caro approached the book and her writing process Caro’s life as a singer and musician What she’s learnt that she wants to pass on Her vision for the futureYou can find Caro on Twitter and Instagram @carogileswrites and her book Twelve Moons is available via the Prompted by Nature bookshop on bookshop.org or at your local bookshop.
Accompanying episodes:
2.10a - Marchelle Farrell, My Garden, My Teacher
3.2a - Stella Tomlinson, Priestesshood and Earth-Based Spirituality
4.2a - Rebecca Schiller, Earthed
4.7a - Ben Myers, Writing with the Land
As always, I’m over at the website www.promptedbynature.co.uk where you can find information about my upcoming day retreats and writing courses in East Sussex as well as all the links to the bookshop and the Substack newsletter. I’m always on @prompted.by.nature on Instagram.
I hope you enjoy the episode. The prompt that accompanies this will be out on Tuesday. Happy listening and I’ll speak to you soon!
Helen x
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Welcome to your writing prompt for my conversation with Elin Manon. This is one of those prompts that doesn’t have to be written - it can be if you’d like, and know that these prompts are always more of creative prompts that you can make of what you will - but could be one to use to inspire a piece of artwork like a collage or painting. Whatever direction you’d like to take this in is fine!
So the invitation here is to do a little background research into the folklore of your area. Folklore came up a lot in the conversation and Elin spoke of her connection to the stories of Wales and also of their connection to the folklore of Cornwall. (And by the way did anyone pick up on the link in her story about the horse that comes in the night- the Night Mare? Was I the only one who, upon listening back to the conversation, saw the light of realisation of ‘oh! Nightmare!!’)
Folklore and landscape are bound together - one, I believe, reflecting the other. We see folklore in a landscape when we notice things like standing stones and stone circles and when we visit a space and are told, ‘they say this is where X happened with Y, many, many years ago.’ The land holds these stories and, as humans, it can be a way for us to connect with it. Folklore is what is created when those who know the land the best begin to notice patterns, signs and symbols and transform these into stories we can learn from. For example, in Sussex, where I live, there is a story about how the Wilmington Giant got there. For those who don’t know, the Wilmington Giant is a huge chalk person carved into the side of a big hill. If you look closely, most areas have some kind of folklore attached to them; these may vary depending on landscape, of course, but even my hometown of London has its urbanised versions of folklore, usually involving the devil in some way!
The invitation here, then, is to do a little research into the folklore of the land on which you now live.
What are the stories that exist in this place that may have been forgotten? Where did they come from and how have they moved and changed with the times? If you can’t find any, why not spend some time outside in your local area connecting with a particular tree or space over the course of days or weeks and see what stories arise from it. Perhaps you are lucky enough to live close to a natural spring or well - where stories does it hold? If you live close to a river, what does it say as it moves and flows on? Perhaps your local park - or even graveyard! - has something in it that has always interested you - what stories might there be in that thing?Get curious and let your imagination run wild!
A couple of previous writing prompts that might help get you started are the meditation I did for my conversation with Nathaniel Hughes and Fiona Owen, 1.3b, as well as with Nana Tomova, 1.7b. And then the prompt for my conversation with Dawn Nelson (which would actually also be really good to listen to in connection to my conversation with Elin), 1.13b, tells the folktale of the river of Banorie, which you can then use as a writing prompt.
Let me know how you get on with this one. The folk tales of the world are always rich, diverse and, oftentimes, wildly entertaining.
All book recommendations in the 'Folk and Stories from the Land' section in my bookshop: https://uk.bookshop.org/shop/promptedbynature
As always, you can find me on the website, www.promptedbynature.co.uk or over on Instagram @prompted.by.nature, where I post most of my social media content.
Happy writing!
Helen x
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Action point: www.ecotalk.co.uk
Welcome to series 5, episode 11 of the Prompted by Nature. How have you been? Imbolc has just passed here in the UK and I can feel the very tangible promise of the lighter months slowly creeping up. The full snow moon has just passed and has been illuminating the early mornings with an almost solar glare - it’s been so bright! I’m in the midst of planning my upcoming e-zine in time for the Equinox as well as working on a few pieces that I’m feeling really inspired by.
Onto to day’s episode.
Today I’m speaking with illustrator, Elin Manon. Elin is a freelance illustrator from Wales now based in Cornwall. Her work is inspired by the natural world, folklore and folk traditions, particularly those Welsh and Cornish. A passion for storytelling and the celebration and protection of our natural world has been a constant drive within her work. Through the power of imagination and imagery, she aims to deepen our connection to the natural environment, reflecting stories of the landscape, in a world that is often focused on the modern and material.
In this conversation, we discuss:
Elin’s creative journey How Elin’s distinctive style emerged The place of storytelling in her work The boundary between Self and Art Finding the balance between work and creativity Charging what you’re worth as a writer Elin’s creative process The impact that Elin’s early encounters with nature and storytelling (especially the Mabinogion) had on her future work Why speaking and using Welsh is so important to Elin Why connecting with creatives can be an important part of enjoying and appreciating their art The lesson that Elin would like to pass onto you Elin’s vision for the futureThis conversation was so rich and I loved speaking with Erin about her incredible artwork. you can find her on her website www.elin-manon.com and on Instagram @elin_manon_illustration
Past episodes that would work well with this one are:
2.5a Nick Hayes, The Book of Trespass
3.6a Jamey-Anne Redway, Illustration and the Natural World
3.8a Chloe Valerie Harmsworth, Nature-Inspired Creativity
4.10a Elizabeth Gleave, Restoring the Earth through the Arts
5.2a Amy-Jane Beer, The Flow
Please do sign up for the Substack newsletter and, if you’d like, join me in the paid subscription where you’ll get all the usual offerings like weekly writing prompts, the discussion board and PbN updates every six weeks, plus 10% off all online courses, a free seasonal e-zine, sneak peeks into my WIPs and much more!
Come find me over on the website where you can find all events, my blog, past episodes and link to the Substack and the PbN bookshop. On Instagram, I’m @prompted.by.nature, Facebook it’s @promptedbynature and Twitter I’m @promptedxnature. Remember that the writing prompt for this episode will be up on Tuesday.
Until next time, I’m sending lots of love and creativity. Happy listening and I’ll speak to you soon! Bye.
Helen x
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Welcome to your writing prompt for my conversation with Moya Lloyd of the Boundary Way Project. In the conversation, Moya talked about her love of using found objects such as plants, mushroom and pieces from her family history to create art. For this prompt then, the invitation is to get creating using things that already exist.
Perhaps you will create a collage out of old books (although I kind of shudder when I think about tearing up books, even old and decrepit ones!), photographs, till receipts, play programmes, your own drawings or sketches, photographs of the landscape, leaves, dried flowers or similar.
Maybe you’d like to stick to writing and find old work that you’ve never done anything with and create new piece - a word collage perhaps, a kind of tapestry of old phrases you’ve already conjured up and then sew them together with newer ideas.
The idea is here is to create something new out of the old. Make the most of what you already have and reshape and refashion it into something completely different. This is similar to a prompt I did way back in series 3, episode 4, inspired by my conversation with Grace Hull so do go and have a listen to 3.4b (and the accompanying conversation, of course!) if you want to extend this idea. That one also includes a short meditation, just to get your creativity flowing.
I’m going to take a break from writing for this one and create a collage similar to the style that Moya uses in her personal work. I’m then going to write a short story or poem inspired by whatever comes out in the collage. I’ll post both on my socials and blog once they’re finished and I’d love to see yours if you try this.
Remember no judgment on your own creativity, please - just experiment and enjoy!
Happy creating and I’ll speak to you soon,
Helen x
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Action point: Right to Roam campaign www.righttoroam.org.uk
Today on the pod we have the lovely Moya Lloyd of the Boundary Project in Wolverhampton. I first heard about the Boundary Way Project and their work on Instagram during lockdown and have been inspired with their creativity and arts projects ever since. This episode is quite close to my heart due to my work with Benfield Valley Project and I came away with lots of ideas for creative initiatives we could run. It was an absolute pleasure to speak with Moya, who is a quiet powerhouse of creativity and inspiration.
Moya is visual artist with a passion for and background in community arts. She studied History of Art and Fine Art and uses these two disciplines to inform her work with Boundary Project, for which she is Project Lead. Boundary Way Project evolved through a series of arts and heritage projects inspired by people, nature and place at the Boundary Way Allotments and Community Garden, where is has been based since 2015. Through the Boundary Way Project, Moya works with a diverse and wide range of the community, organising arts events and projects such as art exhibitions, creative workshops and health and wellbeing sessions.
In this conversation we discuss:
Moya’s work at Boundary Way Project Her creative background and how she came to work in community arts Making art accessible and moving away from elitism in the arts Using found materials to help reduce materials’ costs Connecting with her family history through her creativity What the Boundary Way Project is, what they do and how Moya got involved in it The importance of connecting people with their creativity through nature The Boundary Way Writer’s Group initiative The biggest challenges and biggest joys that Moya has encountered through BWP How Boundary Way Project inspires her creativityAll of Moya’s pieces that we talk about are on the episode page on the website: https://www.promptedbynature.co.uk/series-five/510-moya-lloyd-of-the-boundary-way-project-building-creative-communities. I’ve also popped a link in the notes about the research that Moya mentions in the episode that makes the link between creativity and cultivating deeper relationships with the natural world. https://www.derby.ac.uk/research/centres-groups/nature-connectedness-research-group/
You can find the Boundary Way Project on www.boundaryway.co.uk and on the social @boundarywayproject and Moya can be found on Instagram and Twitter @artsandhealth
Linked episodes:
1.2a Anna Neubert-Wood - Creating sisterhood in the Wild
1.8a Ian Solomon-Kawall aka. KMT, Biodiversity, Creativity and Safe Space in Urban Settings
1.9a Lucy Jones, Why Our Minds Need the Wild
5.5a Bella Gonshrovitz, ‘Grow, Cook, Dye, Wear’
As always, I’m at www.promptedbynature.co.uk, where you can find all episodes to the podcast, writing prompts, my own writing and a link to my newly-relaunched Substack newsletter. I’m also @prompted.by.nature on Instagram .
I hope you enjoy the conversation. Happy listening and I’ll speak to you soon!
Helen x
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Linked episodes:
1.10a Jini Reddy, Magic in the Landscape
2.10a Marchelle Farrell, My Garden, My Teacher
4.2a Rebecca Schiller, Earthed
4.7a Benjamin Myers, Writing with the Land in ‘The Perfect Golden Circle’
Hello! Welcome to your writing prompt for my conversation with Kathryn Aalto. I got a lot out of the chat with Kathryn and it was lovely to be able to catch up with her and go a little deeper into her own creative life and practice.
For this prompt, I’m combining two ideas that came up in the conversation. Firstly, Kathryn’s definition of ‘sense of place’ and secondly her thoughts on ‘show don’t tell.’ Both of these concepts we covered in the course I took with Kathryn and the ‘show don’t tell’ technique is something I used to use a lot with my groups as a school teacher and still use now with my nature writing groups.
Kathryn spoke of ‘sense of place’ as being ‘That invisible layer of memories, history and emotions that covers a physical landscape with this invisible strata.’
For this prompt, I’d like you to create a description of a place. This could either be a space new to you, or that you know well, a place in which you feel a sense of belonging. Perhaps it is a space close to where you live, somewhere you once visited, or somewhere you’re new to.
Wherever it is, you are going to take your reader there using the show don’t tell technique. For this, you are avoiding telling your reader anything but are rather trying to show them it. For example, if you are in a woodland space, rather than telling them explicitly that that’s where you are, show them that that’s where you are. If you need any ideas, consider the following:
How does the air feel? If you close your eyes, what sounds can you hear - close up and far away? What colours, shapes and shades catch your eye? Consider Kathryn’s definition: what layers, memories, history and emotions exist in this place. Maybe you have no emotional connection to this place as yet, and aren’t already aware of any history or memories held in the place. What comes through when you are here? What can you imagine about this place?When you read your work through, any sign of you telling me something, edit it to be more descriptive. Remember this is just an exercise in which you are training your descriptive muscles to be more perceptive, to create more detail and to entice your reader, inviting them into this world with you as their guide.
Please do reach if you use this prompt. You can find me in my favourite online places - on the website, www.promptedbynature.co.uk and on Instagram @prompted.by.nature
Happy writing!
Helen x
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Welcome to series 5, episode 9 of the Prompted by Nature podcast. I hope this one finds you well.
Action Point: WhenToPlugIn app: https://www.nationalgrid.com/cop26/when-to-plug-in-app
Today, we hear from one of my teachers, the wonderful Kathryn Aalto.
Kathryn Aalto is an American teacher, designer, speaker, and New York Times best-selling writer of creative nonfiction. For the past twenty-five years, her creative practice has fused nature and culture: teaching the literature of nature and place; designing beautiful and sustainable gardens; and writing about the natural world. Based in England, she teaches popular online and live writing courses, mentors emerging writers, and leads writing retreats in England and the United States. Kathryn is the author of three books including Writing Wild: Women Poets, Ramblers, and Mavericks Who Shape How We See the Natural World (2020), The Natural World of Winnie-the-Pooh: A Walk Through the Forest that Inspired the Hundred Acre Wood (2015), and Nature and Human Intervention (2011). Her personal essays and book reviews, appear in Smithsonian Magazine, Outside, Sierra, Buzzfeed, Resurgence and the Ecologist, and more.
In this episode, we discuss:
Kathryn’s childhood and youth growing up in Southern California How her love of the personal essay came about and how this influenced her writing How Kathryn’s connection to nature and place has changed and developed through her life Her definition of sense of place How her perception as an ex-pat enriches her understanding and encounters with nature and landscape The circumstances that surrounded her stepping into what she always knew she was meant to do The impact public speaking has had on her writing Kathryn’s writing tips and what it means to ‘show, not tell’ The lesson she’d like to share with you (and it’s a good one!)I took Kathryn’s nature writing course last summer and absolutely loved it. I’m not often able to invest in myself or my ongoing learning so it was amazing to finally take a writing class. I’m so used to teaching that it was joyful to be a student again. I can highly recommend any of Kathryn’s classes and workshops. You can find Kathryn and all information about her forthcoming writing courses at www.kathrynaalto.com and over on social media @kathrynaalto. I’ve also added Kathryn’s books to my bookshop over on bookshop.org so please do pop over there and have a browse. https://uk.bookshop.org/shop/promptedbynature
As always, you can find me over on my website www.promptedbynature.co.uk and on social media @prompted.by.nature on Instagram, @promptedxnature on Twitter and @promptedbynature on Facebook. I have a few local in-person courses and day retreats coming up so do have a look on my website events page if you’re local to Brighton and Hove.
The writing prompt that follows this episode will be up on Tuesday.
Happy listening!
Helen x
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Welcome to series 5, episode 8 of the Prompted by Nature podcast. This episode is a bit of a pep talk and a follow-up to my latest blog post, which you can read here: https://www.promptedbynature.co.uk/writing-prompts/tending-the-compost
I discuss my own thoughts around new year's resolutions and why I use a 'word for the year' instead as well as how I'm using all the fear, doubt and indifference to compost what comes next. Please do read the post as well as listen here.
As always, I'm over on the website www.promptedbynature.co.uk and on the socials Instagram: @prompted.by.nature, Facebook @promptedbynature and on Twitter @promptedxnature
Happy creating!
Helen x
Ps. Just a note that I talk about 'allum lilies' in the episode, but of course I mean 'arum lilies' - I don't know why I always get it wrong! :-D
- Vis mere
