Land Lines collaborates with Yorkshire Wildlife Trust on nature writing events

This September, researchers from the Land Lines project will host acclaimed nature writer Philip Hoare for two events celebrating our relationship to the ocean.

Land Lines is an AHRC-funded project involving researchers from the Universities of Leeds, Sussex, and St Andrews. It is examining how nature writing, and our relationship with nature, has changed in the UK over the last 200 years. These events will continue this examination by bringing celebrated nature writer Philip Hoare to the Yorkshire Wildlife Trust's Living Seas Centre in Flamborough.

As a hugely talent author with a passion for marine environments, Philip is one of the greatest writers at work in his field today. His work Leviathan or, The Whale received the UK’s biggest non-fiction award, the Samuel Johnson Prize, and he was one of the co-instigators of the Moby Dick Big Read project.

Dr Pippa Marland, a Land Lines Research Fellow based in the School of English, said of the events:

"Nature writing is often associated with terrestrial landscapes, but Philip Hoare is one of the greatest living chroniclers of the shoreline and the ocean. He combines his great love of cetaceans with a fascination for human culture, drawing the two together as he investigates what marine nature means to us.

"This is a fantastic opportunity to meet one of the UK’s most respected nature writers in the stunning setting of the world-renowned Yorkshire coast."

Both events are free to attend, but spaces are limited so booking is essential:

The Sea Inside: Memories, Feelings, Experiences - a reading by Philip Hoare
Friday 14 September, 18:30 - 19:30

Philip will be discussing his latest book RISINGTIDEFALLINGSTAR, which continues his exploration of oceans and shorelines around the world, and the ways in which we all carry the sea inside ourselves. This event is suitable for adults.

The Sea Inside: Memories, Feelings, Experiences - family fun afternoon
Saturday 15 September, 14:00 - 17:30

As the tide goes out, the Living Seas Centre’s expert marine team will accompany children and their carers on a ‘Seashore Safari’ to discover rock pool creatures and create artworks using the beach’s distinctive chalk pebbles. Philip will then lead a writing workshop that will give the children a chance to reflect on the experience, and to contribute words and pictures to a new exhibition at the Living Seas Centre.