creative writing

Otherworlds

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Episode 5 of the Paperboats Podcast features poet Chris Powici

Chris lives in Perthshire in Scotland. He taught creative writing for many years at the University of Stirling and the Open University, but is now focussed on his own writing as a poet and essayist. His work mostly explores the overlap between the human and natural worlds.

Chris is also co-editor of New Writing Scotland and one of the key people behind the formation of the Paperboats Writers collective. In this episode he talks about his involvement with Paperboats, his thoughts on the role of the writer in the climate and ecological emergency, and the importance of affirming the world around us through the ‘otherworlds’ of our imagination.

Chis reads ‘Night Fishing’ and ‘Deer’ from his first poetry collection, This Weight of Light (Red Squirrel Press, 2015) and ‘Loch Striven’ from Issue 1 of the Paperboats Zine. His latest poetry collection is Look, Breathe, published by Red Squirrel Press.

You can find the Paperboats Podcast on your preferred platform, or go to: https://paperboats.org/podcasts/

Enjoy!

The Rights of Nature

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The first Paperboats Podcast of 2025 features author and poet Karen Lloyd.

Karen lives on the edge of the Lake District National Park and is Senior Researcher and Writer in Residence at Lancaster University’s Future Places Centre. Her latest book Abundance: Nature in Recovery, is published by Bloomsbury and was longlisted for the Wainwright Prize for Writing in Conservation 2022.

In this episode Karen reads from her essay ‘Inside a Rockpool Shrimp there is a Dying Star‘ and talks about the microplastics problem, the pressures on the Lake District’s vulnerable habitats, the rights of Nature, and how we can protect the most fragile ecosystems in the UK from the impacts of human influence.

Take some time out as we barrel headlong into 2025, and discover a universe in the world of the Rockpool shrimp.

Available now on your preferred platform.

New Writing on THE CLEARING

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‘The screeching increased, and we found the terns now hovering above our heads: dark, piercing eyes glaring down at us, the flash of razored wings folding in on themselves in a sudden flurry of air and feathers as they dove to drive us off. We stumbled on, wary of our footsteps and continually harried by the terns. Eventually we came across a half-collapsed stone dyke and ducked down behind it, leaving the mass of screaming birds behind and feeling guilty for our intrusion.’

Very happy to have some new writing back on THE CLEARING.

It stems from a trip to Orkney in the summer where I had an encounter with an arctic tern colony, and reflects on the draw of the islands and the potential negative impacts of tourism on Orkney’s wildlife.

THE CLEARING is a journal of landscape, nature and place published by Little Toller based in Dorset and edited by Jon Woolcott, author of Real Dorset.

The Flow Country

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EPISODE 2 OF THE PAPERBOATS PODCAST, WITH LINDA CRACKNELL

Episode 2 of the Paperboats podcast with author Linda Cracknell is available from today.

I talk with Linda about Scotland’s Flow Country, her book Doubling Back, and how important walking is to her writing practice.

Linda reads an extract from the new edition of Doubling Back, published by Saraband in May 2024 and a wonderful book exploring a range of diverse landscapes, places, and paths as memory.

Linda also highlights how important the peatbogs of Caithness in Sutherland – now a UNESCO World Heritage Site – are in alleviating the impacts of climate change, and how vulnerable they have been to commercial forestry practices and land misuse. She describes her time spent in the Flow Country in writing the new chapter of her book, her life-long relationship with walking, and the importance of landscape and place to her work. 

Available across all platforms and streaming now, follow and subscribe to keep up with all future episodes.

Check it out at paperboats.org

Podcast on Writing about Nature and Environment launched today

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I’ve been working with Paperboats Writers and Station House Media Unit (SHMU) on a new monthly podcast launched officially today!

If you’re not familiar with Paperboats Writers, they’re a fantastic group of writers working across Scotland (and beyond) to highlight the impacts of climate change, the ecological collapse we’re all witness to, and the things we can do to help bring about positive change.

In each episode I meet with a different writer from the Paperboats collective. We discuss their work, and the issues they write about.

In Ep.1 I talk with Paperboats co-founders, author Sandy Winterbottom and Scots writer and poet Elaine Morrison.

We hear Scotland’s Makar Kathleen Jamie (National Poet for Scotland 2021 – 2024) read her inspirational poem ‘What the Clyde Said, After Cop 26’, discuss the formation of Paperboats Writers, the importance of a Just Transition, and the work of Global Justice Now and the Scottish Rewilding Alliance.

In upcoming episodes I’ll be talking with author Linda Cracknell about the Flow Country and her book Doubling Back, and with Nature Writer and photographer Polly Pullar about the plight of the gannet and Polly’s life-long relationship with wildlife.

Many more fantastic Nature Writers to feature in the coming months, so I hope you’ll give it a listen, and follow and subscribe to keep up with future episodes.

Available on Spotify, Amazon, Apple and YouTube.