Over the last year and a half or so I have noticed a shift in the way I think about nature and the natural world. At one point during a zoom workshop about nature-writing, I surprised myself (and the other participants) by starting to cry. It helped me understand that I process all sorts of … Continue reading Nature and the power of place
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Encouraging children to engage with nature
Content warning - violence towards animals In previous posts I've mentioned that I believe the worldview of influential adults plays a large part in a child's openness to engage with (or continue engaging with) the natural world. In this post I will outline some of the ways that I attempt to encourage my three-year-old to … Continue reading Encouraging children to engage with nature
My approach to identifying Brazilian birds
When I was growing up in the UK, my dad was my default bird identifier and his general knowledge about natural history, wildlife and birdlife was something else. So I don't remember often searching for information about birds since Dad taught us to recognise most local birds from an early age and those I didn't … Continue reading My approach to identifying Brazilian birds
Engaging with nature – the challenge of finding resources online
In my post On danger in nature, I mentioned some factors that I think affect engagement with the natural world. One of these is the ease of finding sources of information about nature which are both reliable and pitched at the appropriate level. This is very broad but examples might be seeing a butterfly and … Continue reading Engaging with nature – the challenge of finding resources online
Run-ins with reptiles
I never had much contact with reptiles growing up. When I was volunteering in a church in Nicaragua with a team from the UK who were mostly also late teens, one of the lads bought at iguana from the market. It was being sold to eat and he bought it to surprise a team-mate. Its … Continue reading Run-ins with reptiles
Squirrels, toucans and confessions
Having once openly ridiculed a Brazilian friend who went nuts when she saw a squirrel in the Rio de Janeiro botanical gardens when I was still fresh off the boat and clinging jealously to a brief glimpse of a toucan as my only brush with tropical wildlife, I have a confession to make. I've harboured … Continue reading Squirrels, toucans and confessions
Celebrating with TunaFish Journal
I first came across TunaFish Journal a few months ago and found their focus refreshing and uplifting. At the time all I could see were poetry magazines looking for intense first-person narratives and bleak, raw or nightmarish poems, so it was lovely to find 'a journal for the tender-hearted readers and writers out there'. 'We … Continue reading Celebrating with TunaFish Journal
Experimenting with words and form in streetcake magazine
I'm always amazed by visual poetry and I often wonder where poets find their inspiration. A few months ago I was dipping in and out of streetcake magazine as I was getting things done around the house and saw a visual poem about motherhood called 'Head space [no vacancies]' by Naomi Marklew. I was still … Continue reading Experimenting with words and form in streetcake magazine
Getting minimal with The Minison Project
I was overjoyed to have my first ever poems published by The Minison Project. Both are minimal sonnets (14 characters and variations on the theme). One is a celebration of Brazilian birds (surprise surprise!) and the other is about some of our welcome and less welcome house guests. You can find both poems and the … Continue reading Getting minimal with The Minison Project
Writing as worship
I'm coming to realise that writing comes in all forms and for all different purposes and that's one of the wonderful things about it. So writing blog posts is not frivolous if I am training myself to persevere and experimenting with different writing styles and techniques. And what I am unable to capture in a … Continue reading Writing as worship
Brazil from the outside in 