from BARDO

The stars are in our belly; the Milky Way our umbilicus.

Is it a consolation that the stuff of which we’re made

is star-stuff too?


– That wherever you go you can never fully disappear –

dispersal only: carbon, hydrogen, nitrogen, oxygen.


Tree, rain, coal, glow-worm, horse, gnat, rock.


Roselle Angwin

Tuesday 30 June 2020

A Spell in the Forest: Tongues in Trees


SEPTEMBER 2020: this book is due out in June 2021. Pre-orders can be placed, however. See here.

It is always so exciting to catch the first glimpse of your forthcoming book's cover (and also a bit trepidating, if that word exists. What if you hate it? Although so far I've loved almost all of my covers.)

This came through this morning. It's so perfect I nearly cried. The book is still in production and the publication date a whole year away, but still.


This is what it says on the back:

'Trees occupy a place of enormous significance, not only in our planet’s web of life but also in our psyche. This book is part love-song to trees, forests and the Wildwood, part poetic guidebook to the botany, ecology, cultural history, properties, mythology, folklore and symbolism of trees, and part a deeper exploration of thirteen native sacred British tree species in relation to the powerful mythic Celtic Ogham alphabet calendar. "Tongues in Trees" is a multi-layered contribution to the current awareness of the importance and significance of trees and the resurgence of interest in their place on our planet and in our hearts.

'In the book, Angwin says: "...a planet without the Wildwood will, after a while, no longer support other forms of life, including ours, and a life lived without soul will also not support any kind of meaningful life." The book is, therefore, also a plea that we re-vision our relationship to the other-than-human.'

And I've had a lovely endorsement from Fred Hageneder, author of many beautiful books about trees: '
The poet who reignites within us passion and wonder for the living world does as much for the healing of the planet as any ecologist. Roselle Angwin is one such poet.'



7 comments:

  1. Yes, wonderful cover. Perfect picture - is it one of yours?

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  2. Thank you Belinda! I had to think for a minute, but no it's not my photo. The publishers sourced it. Rx

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  3. Gorgeous cover! And another book to add to my reading list. I'll be waiting patiently for it to be released.

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    1. Hello Therese! That's a nice message. Thank you. I'm finding it hard to be patient – I started the book so long ago!

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  4. Do let me know when the book comes out. Are you working on Book Two now?
    I've decided to put aside the novel I started with your online course as it needs too much doing to it to make it publishable (according to a couple of reports and my own instincts) and I think it would be more productive to start something new. But don't know what yet! x

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    1. In theory I am, Belinda.

      Well, sometimes these things can act as an obstacle, so it's probably a good thing you've put it aside. Memoir? Nature-memoir?

      x

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  5. Nature memoir - that's an interesting thought. Thank you.

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