“Ravens’ Nests & Spring Tides” – writing about place and nature in Iceland and the Isle of Man
Author talk by Dr Sarah Thomas and Dr Fiona Gell
Wednesday 19 April 7.30pm
Book tickets online: https://www.ticketsource.co.uk/erinartscentre
Authors Sarah Thomas and Fiona Gell have written about two very different places – Iceland’s Westfjords and the underwater world around the Isle of Man – but their writing has captured the landscapes, nature and heritage that have shaped their own stories.
From the cultural importance of herring to the magic of seals, there are many links between the two books and the two spellbinding places. In this unique event, Sarah and Fiona will read from their recently published books and talk about everything from fishing and seabirds to geology and some of the more unusual traditions they have encountered.
Copies of the books will be available to buy during the evening and if you’ve already read one or both of the books, there will be also be a Q&A session so you can find out more.
More information about the authors:
Sarah Thomas is a writer and documentary filmmaker with a PhD in Interdisciplinary Studies. She is committed to work that explores our entanglements with the living world. Her films have been screened internationally. She has been a regular contributor to Dark Mountain journal, and her writing has also appeared in the Guardian and the anthology Women On Nature edited by Katharine Norbury. In 2020 she was nominated for the Arts Foundation Environmental Writing Award. She was longlisted for the inaugural Nan Shepherd Prize and shortlisted for the 2021 Fitzcarraldo Essay Prize. Her beautiful memoir about living in Iceland’s Westfjords The Raven’s Nest was published in July 2022.
For more information see: https://sarahthomas.net/the-ravens-nest/
Fiona Gell is a marine conservationist and writer. She studied marine biology and completed her PhD on seagrass ecology and fisheries in the Quirimba Archipelago, Northern Mozambique. She has worked internationally on Marine Protected Areas and how they can benefit biodiversity and fisheries. As the Isle of Man’s first marine conservation officer she led the development of its network of Marine Nature Reserves and she has worked on a wide range of environmental protection and climate change policy issues. She has published in leading science journals and literary magazines and written about ocean conservation in the Guardian. Her first book Spring Tides, about her love of the precious marine life of the Isle of Man was published in May 2022.
For more information see: https://www.weidenfeldandnicolson.co.uk/titles/fiona-gell/spring-tides/9781474621878/
