The issue incudes such a great range of thought-provoking writing by a diverse group of wonderful writers, all responding to the issue theme of ‘Nature’s Voice’ in inspiring and imaginative ways.
In poetry and prose, our contributors bear witness to the vulnerability of birds and other animals; the human impacts on climate and environment; hear the imagined song of trees; give voice to glaciers and storms, mosses and lichen. We learn of grass-roots efforts to respond to the threat of extinction, and we recognise the need to pause and to listen, to take note and act before it is too late.
We are particularly delighted to feature specially commissioned work by poet, artist and curator, Madhu Raghavendra, who was awarded the Charles Wallace Writing Fellowship at Stirling University in 2024.His opening poem ‘Orbit’ sets the scene and encapsulates the themes of this issue perfectly.
Please do grab a cuppa and enjoy a great read by going to the link below.
Looking forward to giving an online talk and reading from my essay ‘elm is me and I am elm’ at Plymouth State University this Friday – part of the Museum of the White Mountains Tree Talk series.
‘elm is me and I am elm’ was published in Issue 5 of the Paperboats Writers E-Zine and explores our deeply entwined relationship with nature through a personal exploration of a local area of ancient woodland, the story of the wych-elm, and recent thinking in anthropology and ecology.
Join me on Friday 17th November for a human-nature entanglement.
I’m proud to be co-editing the next issue of the Paperboats Writers e-zine with author Alex Nye, on the theme of Nature’s Voice.
The zine has featured some fantastic writers over each of the five issues that precede this one – both long-established, well known writers and emerging talent, and we hope to be able to continue to bring this diverse range of voices with our call to speak from the perspective of the more-than-human world at this time of climate and ecological breakdown.
Keep a look out for Issue 6, due out in late autumn 2025. In the meantime, you can catch up on each of the other five, fantastic issues, with the link below.
Episodes 9 and 10 of the Paperboats Podcast have their roots in a striking symbiosis between two writers and environmental campaigners, each drawing compelling parallels between the whaling industry and our continued reliance on fossil fuels.
In Episode 9,Matt Sowerby reads from his essay, ‘Hope is The Thing with Flippers’, which was the winning entry to the 2024 Nature Chronicles Prize, discussing the inspiration and thinking behind it. He also talks about the legacy of whaling and what we can learn in context with the climate crisis and the use of fossil fuels; about his journey as both an activist and writer; the relationship between writing, activism and performance; and his current writing focus on oil and the ocean. He closes with a moving account of his thoughts on what hope might mean in the face of the climate emergency, and a second reading from his award-winning essay.
In Episode 10,Sandy Winterbottom reads an extract from her adventure travel memoir,The Two Headed Whale, which describes her experience finding the grave of a young whaler while visiting an abandoned whaling station on South Georgia during her life-changing voyage to Antarctica in 2016. She talks about the journey of discovery and understanding the writing of the book took her on as she uncovered the tragic details of the young whaler’s life, drawing parallels between whaling and a self-perpetuating fossil fuel industry. Sandy also describes an event that she organised to bring writers and activists together at Aberdeen’s Maritime Museum in 2024 which took its name from Matt’s essay and featured his solo performance of the stage adaptation. Sandy also talks about hope, about action, and the importance of a just transition. The episode closes with a reading from recent work Sandy published in the Scotsman.
Episode 10 with Sandy marks the final episode of Season 1 of the podcast, but it will be back in the autumn for a second season featuring interviews and readings from more writers, artists and poets associated with the Paperboats Writers collective.
It has been a real privilege spending time in their company, so do take some time out to catch these two wonderful writers working so well together to capture the same themes in wonderfully different ways.
Follow the link below to listen, like, share and subscribe.
The latest Paperboats Writers podcast was released on Friday May 02 with artist and writer Christina Riley.
Christina was born in Florida but moved to Ayrshire when she was eight years old. Her practice often focuses on the small details of the natural world, particularly in coastal and underwater environments, and incorporates collections and found objects.
In 2019, Christina started The Nature Library – a roving library of books aimed at connecting people to land, sky and sea, which in 2024 took up a long-term location at a former shipyard worker’s flat in Irvine in Ayrshire in association with the Scottish Maritime Museum. Her photo book The Beach Today was published by Guillemot Press in 2021, and her debut collection of essays was longlisted for Canongate’s Nan Shepherd Prize for Nature Writing in 2019.
Christina reads two extracts from her series of beautiful prose fragments, ‘The Same Sunlight’, published by Gutter Magazine, Issue 30. She discusses her residency at the Mission Blue Argyll ‘Hope Spot’, and the remarkable biodiversity that can be found along the Argyll coast. She also gives a fascinating insight into her writing, her artistic practice, and the books that have inspired her.
Christina is currently working on a series of essays exploring Scotland’s biodiversity, stemming from her time on the artist residency in Argyll.
Groundings 