Our Walking Book Club celebrates its 10th Birthday! Picnic at Hanging Rock - The very first outing for our Walking Book Club... This post was originally published on 30th April 2013... It seemed a long time anticipating our first walking book club, planning began back in February when it was cold and dark, and winter has held on for such a long, long time, but those that joined us on Saturday were rewarded with sunshine and budding leaves - it was also warm enough to sit comfortably at 'the witches hut' to chat about books. We gathered outside the shop, said our hellos, and then headed towards Burridge Woods. The first climb is short but quite steep, so we had agreed that any discussion would begin once the path levelled out so as not to get too breathless! However, trying not to talk about the mysteries within Picnic at Hanging Rock seemed impossible as we all wanted to share our different conclusions and hunches about the story. The walking party then had a choice, carry along the riverside or head up to the den via Middle Path - curious they chose to visit the den. As we approached the encampment, which is also a site of an ancient hill fort, some bones that had been added to the structure caught our eye. My initial response was that they looked like the remains of some great fish but on closer inspection they were of course the spine and hip joint of a deer. The den was met with sounds of approval, I don't think anyone in the party expected quite such a magnificent build; one walker hopes to return with picnics and grandchildren in tow. We sat at the entrance in the sunshine, and this provided the perfect opportunity for the whole group to relax, have a snack and of course discuss the book. Some felt disappointed that it didn't 'end', that the mystery wasn't wrapped up neatly, others felt that this was the strength of the tale. We all agreed that the author had captured the hot, thick, Australian summer landscape. In my mind it was this heady mixture of heat, young girls 'coming of age' and the Aboriginal spirit, the magic of time and place that drew the girls from the track - for surely folk tales and fairy tales have always warned us not to stray from the path. I had not realised but there is an alternative ending to Picnic at Hanging Rock, it was not published until 1987, three years after Joan Lindsay's death and may provide the 'solution' that some readers may crave. Although a quick online search revealed that copies seem quite elusive and expensive! It was time to head back, I led the group through a little walked track at 'the top' and then back onto a main path. It was before joining this main track that treasure was found - for at my feet lay a shed antler from a roe deer. I have longed to find an antler on my walks here on Exmoor and today was to be the day, I see it as a positive blessing for our Walking Book Club. April 2023 - Seven Fables would like to thank everyone who has entered into the spirit of the Walking Book Club, and joined us over the years, particularly those who regularly walked with us from the very beginning, for without your commitment and love of books, it would not have grown into what it is today - thank you xxxxxxx We have some wonderful titles selected for this year's programme, alongside author visits, so do visit the dedicated page on our website if you wish to join us. Our format has changed but our love of reading and walking has certainly not diminished!

Thank you, Jackie Morris - here's to future moments of colourful shapeshifting! Xx Jackie Morris Visits Number Seven This post was originally published on the 'First Day of Spring' 2013... Keeping a beady eye on the proceedings especially the silver and turquoise necklace... I must admit I was a little nervous, excited too naturally, the weekend approached, and Jackie Morris would finally be arriving at Number Seven. I needn't have worried as soon as she drew up in her colourful dragon van and parked up, she greeted me with a smile and a hug, I immediately felt at ease. Tea was followed by wine as we sat by the fire waiting for supper to slowly cook and while we waited Jackie handed us the colour proof pages of Little Evie in the Wild Woods. How special? I have watched this book be drawn from the pages and brought to life via Jackie's blog and have thoroughly enjoyed seeing Catherine Hyde's 'dark and glowing' paintings evolve, and here it was for me to read. You too can have a tantalising peek! Due to be published in July I can't wait for it to be on the book shelves at Number Seven. Then yet more delights as Jackie presented me with a rough, rough proof of Song of The Golden Hare, it was all too much to take in, but fortunately we were to have time later in the weekend to savour these delights, in fact on the Saturday morning a parcel arrived and a second proof arrived, this time with the finalised jacket design and to which visitors on the Saturday were also privy to. While Jackie explored Dulverton, I displayed her paintings and prints, set the stage for her, Jan filled bowls with rich purple and magenta fruits, and it all fell together quite instinctively. In fact, Jackie commented that the flat above Number Seven was somewhat similar to how she had imagined the white bear's castle in East of theSun West of theMoon. She then went on to give my mother Jan the most wonderful compliment - "She is the third wise sister who has come to life from East of the Sun." Customers started to arrive and even though the first reading was not supposed to be until 2pm, Jackie kindly read, signed books, and made everyone feel very welcome, and so the afternoon passed gently and magically. The fire was fed with logs, the skies outside were dark with hail - the conversation was of hares, seals, cats and bears - drawing, painting and capturing inspiration. I think everyone who came left happy and uplifted by the tales they heard, the gentle ticking of the many clocks and the reverberating hum of the Tibetan healing bowl. Such a wonderful weekend that is full of memories and also a promise that Jackie hopes to return to Number Seven. And I just found this photo! All images Seven Fables. Ceramic Jackdaw by the very talented Karen Fawcett

At the tail end of November, month of mists and bonfires, we visited Greenwood Cottage in Herefordshire to film Tamsin Abbott and Jackie Morris... The film was commissioned by Unbound to promote the crowdfund for Wild Folk, a book that grew from an idea that surfaced while staying at Northmoor House last September. Launched on Twelfth Night, as the full moon rose, a very apt Wolf Moon, magic was heavy in the air and the project was greeted with open hearts, successfully reaching its funding target within six days. You may still pledge via Unbound, where you will discover that one of the rewards is 'an invitation for a super-exclusive pre-preview of the exhibition of the stained glass artworks featured in the book and a chance to meet both artists.' Seven Fables is honoured to be hosting the exhibition, the 'pre-preview' alongside a private view and we also have a walk to a standing stone in mind. Where and when the exhibition will be held is yet to be confirmed as a publication date has not been set at this early stage. Tamsin believes it will take her a year to complete all the images required and it is thought that this might be the first time a series of stained glass artworks have been commissioned specifically to illustrate a book. Jackie is yet to write all the shapeshifting tales and she is looking forward to gathering them on the wind, from stone, from her deep love of folklore, and there are to be seven in total. If you would like to attend the Wild Folk exhibition and private view, do subscribe to the Seven Fables newsletter for future updates and invitations. It was an absolute delight to visit Tamsin's studio, an art piece in itself, to hear her and Jackie discuss their hopes and inspiration for Wild Folk - to record their conversation, film and share food. We also met Dougal Abbott, Tamsin's son, who we commissioned to create the soundscape. Music is so important when editing a film, it is a gentle render, that when done correctly almost disappears. As a young graduate, setting out on his creative career we believe Dougal answered the brief perfectly. We hope you enjoy the film and are looking forward to this much anticipated collaboration as much as we are. Copies of Wild Folk will naturally be available from the shelves of Seven Fables and pre-orders wil be made available closer to publication. Filmed and Edited by Seven Fables Location: Greenwood Cottage Soundscape: Dougal Abbott - Groke Wild Folk: Tales from the Stones by Tamsin Abbott and Jackie Morris to be published by Unbound

A look back at our time at Northmoor House, Exmoor, September '22 Mid winter is a time for reflection, and so we thought it fitting to share the visitor's book created by our guests at Nortmoor House. In September, Seven Fables and Jackie Morris invited a group of artists, writers, editors and publishers to join us for a brief moment of idle creativity - no deadlines, no pressure, space to just be, contemplate, read, converse, share ideas, favourite poems and food. Seeking a project to explore and play, Christopher decided to build a large format camera entirely from scratch. The prototype was literally made from cardboard boxes, with lenses borrowed from a pair of vintage binoculars and an ancient overhead projector. These were then incorporated within his more sophisticated build with which he managed to capture the most beguiling images, forming a focalpoint with which all guests became involved... Of course, creative guests are rarely truly idle, unless sleeping, ideas are always surfacing, and Jackie is always writing, sketching whether in her mind or on the page. At Northmoor she was able to spend time gilding 'House Martins,' one of the spreads for her and Robert Macfarlane's Book of Birds, now due to be published in 2025, and we seized the moment to film the book's progress. Catherine Hyde explored the house with her mirrorless camera, Rob and Jane wrote, Kalina and Dot cooked their socks off but found time to join us for evening readings, I got to play with my oil pastels, Rebecca was embroidery queen, while Jackie and Tamsin got to chat tentative ides about the book they have always wanted to publish together, and John Mitchinson from Unbound listened... And the corridors resonated to Julia's cello... We look forward to being able to return. Xx Northmoor Guest List 2022 Fable | Jackie Morris & Robin Stenham | Davina and Christopher Jelley | Jan Jan Tamsin Abbott | Rob Cowen | Julia Vohralik | Jane Lovell | Dot Kuzniar & Kalina Newman| Rebecca Armstrong | Catherine Hyde & Miles Kirby | John Mitchinson & Rachael Kerr While at Northmoor we also hosted our Heeding Nature event at Oldberry Castle in the woods of Dulverton...

A creative conversation in the woods with artist Catherine Hyde, poet Jane Lovell and writer Rob Cowen | September 2022 The September light for our Heeding Nature event was breath-taking, and so very welcome, as the night beforehand the rain was so, so heavy, that I lay awake questioning if we had finally pushed our luck with the weather. Yes, we have had wet walks in the past but not with such a large group, we have even headed back along Middle Path to the sound of rumbling thunder. Did I need to seek an alternative venue? Catherine certainly wouldn’t wish to draw in the rain and we would be unable to hear the readings, but then the weather is nature, the essence of why we were gathering, and very much the personality of outdoor experiences. I reasoned that we were also with a group of artists and guests who would relish being out in the open no matter the conditions. When I awoke the light was honey gold, I need not have worried, and surprisingly we were able to sit comfortably in a dappled clearing. All three writers and artists share a mutual passion, drawing their inspiration from nature, with each observing not only its splendour but its darker, fundamental side. Throughout history we have sought to understand the seasons, predict the weather, reassure ourselves with stories and folklore, that the swallows will return, orchards will fruit and the cycle continue. When we look closely there is evidence within every landscape of our impact, no matter how wild or untouched you first perceive it to be. We arrogantly set ourselves apart, yet our interaction and management of wildlife has influenced how animals behave in changing habitats, on our own behaviour. Rob read a stand out piece from Common Ground that relates to his brief, intense encounter with a fleeing deer, observing within the panicked eye its inherited fear and timeless flight from the hunt. As the conversation and readings flowed between Rob, Jane and Catherine, we listened, tuning in to the turn of the season, the layers of history entwined within our surroundings, while Catherine also drew - quick, instant, inky lines capturing the form of fox and stag. Afterwards, we made our way from Oldberry Hill Fort, returning to Seven Fables where each signed copies of their respective titles, all who, within the pages of their books explore far more eloquently than I, the theme of our conversation, valuing the importance to heed nature. Thank you to everyone who joined us and entered fully into the spirit of the afternoon - we felt quite blessed. Signed books by Catherine Hyde, Jane Lovell and Rob Cowen are available to purchase from the Seven Fables’ website, delivery within the UK is £4.00 if you are unable to collect, and we do ship parcels overseas. If you wish to be kept informed about our future walks and talks, do subscribe to our regular newsletter here. Photographs Reuben Jelley Words Davina Jelley Discover Seven Fables on Bookshop.Org....

One of my earliest memories of Nicola Davies is her singing an impromptu folk song during a book signing at Seven Fables - it was just so spontaneous and naturally beautiful. As a result, Nicola, to me has always been about song and her passion for the natural world. She is incredibly knowledgable, having trained as a zoologist, she has spent a lifetime travelling, garnering experiences first hand with the natural world and is so adept at sharing that wisdom in a relaxed and accessible manner. The Song That Sings Us encompasses everything that is close to Nicola's Heart... In early April Christopher and I visited her home in Pembrokeshire, where we began work on this short film. A little summer magic was captured on Dunster Beach amidst the vipers blue gloss, when editing was complete, we passed the film onto Exmoor muscian and artist Mark Abdey to create a 'song.' The Song That Sings us is due out in paperback in the autumn, however we do have a limited number of signed hardback copies available to order via our website. We have also put together a list of her many inspiring titles on the Seven Fables Bookshop.Org profile, where you will discover titles to raise 'passionate environmentalists.' As you will see, Nicola is a prolific writer, and One World: 24 Hours on Planet Earth, has recently been long-listed for the Children's Wainwright Prize - a wonderful testament to her writing career, lets hope this award can be added to her many others!

By Hannah Stowe Fire Crow. Sperm Whale. Wandering Albatross. Humpback Whale. Shearwater. Barnacle. Pyrrhocorax pyrrhocorax. Physeter macrocephalus. Diomedea exulans. Megaptera novaeangliae. Puffinus puffinus. Elminius modestus. The names of these creatures, the totemic figures that the chapters of Move Like Water follow, have become a strange sort of chant, repeated inside my head over and over. Each is a waypoint, a marker of both the physical and emotional navigation that is Move Like Water. The thread, the story, that runs through it all, entwined with the natural world, is a very human experience. When I first started writing the book, it was for you. Move Like Water was to be an ocean that you could hold in your hands, a book to sweep you away from the shore, into a wild world of water, whale, storm, starlight, and all that is the sea. I wanted you to feel the majesty that it is to share breath with the great whales, the resonant presence when the dark tall dorsal of an orca cuts through the water. I wanted you to see in your minds eye the jewelled droplets that streak down the rorqual lines of humpback whales as they breach through the skin of the sea and up into the air. I wanted you to experience what it was like, to sail for weeks at a time, day and night, with life set to a new rhythm, before returning to the shore once again. These are all things that I have experienced, through my career as a young sailor and marine biologist studying cetaceans from sailing boats. In my writing, I wanted to highlight how the oceans shape all of our lives, from how they connect the continents, to providing us with the air we breathe as phytoplankton fix carbon in the surface waters. We think of forests, of the Amazon rainforest, as the lungs of our planet, when really, most of this oxygen comes from the sea. Human health is ocean health, and vice versa. As vast and powerful as our seas are, so is the possibility for us to harm them. For centuries, we have viewed the seas as a boundless resource. With one hand, we would take fish from the sea for food, with the other, we would discard our waste beneath the waves. Move Like Water explores the historical scars that whaling and overfishing have left on the seas, the effects of bycatch that are still drowning our cetaceans and seabirds. They are unwanted consequences, snagged in nylon, brought up in gill nets designed to reap swathes of fish from the seas. Once they are hauled ashore, they are discarded, worthless, with no commercial value. I explore how the speed of our lifestyles is adding more and more sound to the seas everyday as tankers move our food and goods around the world, their engines roaring, drowning out the swooping melodies of humpback song. I examine how, through our reliance on fossil fuels and the subsequent climate change, we are changing the very chemistry of the oceans as their pH falls towards acidity. These are all difficult and complex issues, that require different methods to stem or reverse the tide of damage. The key to all of them is action. Move Like Water seeks to educate and empower, and should leave you with a message of hope, helping you go forward to work for the sea, along the path that is most resonant for you as an individual. This is what I hope that Move Like Water can do for you. I wasn’t exactly sure what the process of writing the book would do for me. I suppose the work began, in its very early stages, as the field notes and illustrated journal entries I would keep while I was sailing. I started to work at sea when I was 18, on the shores of my childhood home in Pembrokeshire. It wasn’t long before I found myself sailing across the North Sea, on a 95 year old wooden boat, and then surveying northern bottlenose whales from a sailing boat off the coast of Canada. I split my time between sailing and university, studying for a degree in Marine Biology and Ecology. Once I had my BSc, I was working on a sailing boat devoted to conducting cetacean surveys and occasionally hosting film crews making natural history documentaries about the whales. We had just finished working on one of these documentaries, filming sperm whales in the Azores in the summer of 2019. Watching the creative process was equal parts fascinating and frustrating for me. It was incredibly interesting, but the storyteller in me started to ache. I had spent my professional life sailing, and studying these whales. I wanted to use my voice, to add to the stories that were being told, but I didn’t know exactly how. The sail back from the Azores to the UK took around twelve days. There were only three of us, sailing a twenty-one meter boat, and we rotated in watches, sailing day and night. This meant that apart from the meals we ate together, we were largely alone. I would spend three hours on deck, with six hours to rest, before the process was repeated. Although we had left the island archipelago behind in bright sunlight, that first night, a ferocious storm had broken. When I think back on that voyage, in all my memory of it, it was a very dark sail. The winds and waves whipped at night, and in the day, the sun never broke through the dense grey cloud until we had passed north of Biscay and into the English Channel. For this whole journey, the words for Move Like Water were beginning to form into a coherent idea for a book proposal. Immediately on returning to the UK, I travelled to London, and pitched the earliest iteration to Jessica Woollard, who is now my agent. From there, the real work began. In 2017, I suffered a spinal injury while surfing in Scotland. The turmoil that followed, the surgery, and the recovery formed a pivotal part of my personal story. Everything that preceded that day, and everything that came after felt entirely different. It was the first time I found myself physically removed from the water. Although I could sometimes take dips when accompanied, there was a barrier of accessibility that I had not previously experienced. There are seasons in the seas, just as there are on land. At the world’s poles, North and South, winter brings a constant darkness. The diatoms, members of the phytoplankton that fix carbon in the sea go dormant as sun remains below the horizon during these months, just as seeds do in the earth when the frosts form. The outer bodies of the diatoms harden, and they sink through the layers of sea into the depths, waiting, waiting, until the light returns. This was such a season for me, where resilience and waiting become a necessity. The spring brought an energy like no other. As my physical strength grew, so did my need to push myself. I felt that I had just been through an incredibly challenging time, and was now ready to choose challenges for myself. My sailing career accelerated, as I found myself taking on a new job, and qualified as a skipper in my own right. When I started writing Move Like Water, I knew this would have to be an integral part of the narrative of the book. Much of my life so far has been shaped by the water, and now my body physically had. Although I had explored what had happened, and settled it in my own thoughts, I was nervous about how I would write about such a turbid time for a public audience. For all of my best laid plans of how to approach it, life had other designs. On July 27th, 2022, it will be exactly one year since I last went sailing. My partner and I had just got home from sailing from Cornwall along the English Channel across the North Sea, through the Kiel Canal, all the way to the Baltic Sea. Although both of us have sailed extensively, it was our first time in the Baltic. We spent balmy summer days at anchor, swimming from the boat and reading on the deck. The day we came into port was perfect. I had no idea that it would be the last day I would sail for over a year, but it was perfect. The weather was warm, with a steady breeze on the beam. Our boat flew along, the main sheeted out on a reach as we sailed in the sun. As we approached our final harbour, the skies opened, and lightening split the sky. We were soaked to the skin, laughing in the deluge as we came alongside to tie the boat up. The whole harbour was decorated for the Hanse sail, one of the largest sailing festivals in Europe, bright flags waving in the evening sun. A few days later after returning home, I turned over in the night, and tore a damaged disc. From there, things progressed quickly to a very unstable place. It has been a year since I have been particularly physically able. A year since I have been managing chronic pain. A year of having to balance work with hospital appointments. A year of cancelling plans. A year of multiple treatments. A year of getting my hopes up. A year of nothing working. There have been moments that have been incredibly bright, where I have been overwhelmed by the exceptional kindness of others, and the strength of human connection. There have been moments that are too difficult to speak about. There are oddly painful interactions where a stranger looks you up and down, assessing how sick you look, a strange scrutiny of an injury invisible to them. A year of writing Move Like Water. Although the experiences of the last year are far from how I imagined I would write the book, they have brought with them unexpected depths to the prose. Although my original intention was to use the words to transport you out to sea, I found that I also needed to transport myself there. I have been able to scoop myself up, reliving experiences of sailing in the North Atlantic being showered my sperm whale breath in the night, researching northern bottlenose whales. Although I was at home with an aching back, I could once more climb mast steps on strong healthy limbs to perch in a crow’s nest, watching sperm whales surface from deep dives to meet their calves in the sunlit waters, in front of the volcanic islands that are the Azores. I would lie in a hospital bed, imagining how it must be for them, as they flick their flukes to the sky, and dive down from sunlit waters, into twilight, into darkness, the weight of the ocean above them, as they use sound to hunt for squid. I could feel the heat of the Mediterranean, the salty sea spray on my face that would dry to coarse white crystals. I felt the quiet inky hours, sailing in starlight, with no space for thought beyond the night, the wind, the sails of a boat. As I am writing this, I am getting ready for my second surgery. As you are reading it, I will likely be recovering. Fire Crow. Sperm Whale. Wandering Albatross. Humpback Whale. Shearwater. Barnacle. The creatures I have spent so much time with during the process of the lived experience behind the book, the research, and the writing. Their names bring a comforting, quiet resonance. I repeat them over and over. They bring me hope, confidence. Move Like Water has almost reached the end of its creative journey. Soon, it will no longer be mine, but go out into the world to be yours. It has done more for me than I could have imagined. It has seemed at times like something inevitable. A full stop at the end of a period of time. I think writing it was the last stretch of the journey it follows. Although my current circumstances are difficult, and unsettled, it has bought me so much calm for the journey ahead. Move Like Water will be published next June by Granta Books. Copies will of course be available from our shelves at Seven Fables and Hannah plans to join us for an event at some point following its publication. I have had the privilege of reading a passage from Move Like Water, and how she describes swimming with her mother, Jackie Morris, within the shadow of Ramsey Island is truly beautifully. Granta describe her book as: '...a beguiling and beautiful work of non-fiction about our human relationship with the sea and the creatures who inhabit it. Born beneath the sweep of a lighthouse beacon on the Pembrokeshire coast, Stowe is a marine biologist, sailor and artist and this book draws on her research at sea as well as her experience of sailing through some of the planet’s most varied waters. The book is underpinned by a powerful environmental message, but Stowe’s argument is made through the stories she tells – about swimming with her mother as a child, about listening to whale song, about being at sea at night – all of which encourage readers to fall in love with the seas as she has, to appreciate their majesty and their vulnerability. Deputy Publishing Director Laura Barber commented: ‘Hannah’s proposal captured my imagination from the first page, which featured one of her magical pen and ink drawings of a sperm whale, and her prose is just as bewitching. This heartfelt hymn to the sea promises to be an unforgettable introduction to one of the most gifted nature writers of the new generation.’ To discover more about Hannah's writing and support her creative process you may subscribe to her monthly digital publication, The Peregrination. Alongside Hannah's prose, poetry, and artwork, it also features other artists and writers, snippets of travel, book recommendations and curiosities she has encountered in the hope that it as intriguing to the reader as it is for her to create. 'The shelves are awash with sea books. But Stowe is different. She doesn't just watch and describe the sea; she's part of it. It surges inside her and crashes out onto the page. The book's drenched with salt water. It fizzes, clicks, booms and screams. Tremendous.' Charles Foster Writers naturally tend to read, a lot, so we asked Hannah for a few recommendations... Words and images copyright Hannah Stowe 2022

A Gilded Labyrinth and a Golden Soul... To celebrate the publication of her new pillow book, Feather, Leaf, Bark and Stone, Jackie Morris has created the most precious prize for one lucky customer of Seven Fables, a gilded labyrinth and its golden soul... We recently visited Jackie while she was staying at The Druidstone in Pembrokeshire. She rarely takes time out from writing and painting, and like us, many, if not all her holidays are creative times, and so we spent the week filming and photographing her work. . . Books evolve, take time, and Jackie has worked closely with Alison O'Toole on the design of Feather, Leaf, Bark & Stone, creating and transforming the original artworks, retaining the lightness of touch and illusive quality of the original images and words, typed literally onto gold leaf, feather, leaf and bark. The proof had recently arrived and was bundled with a golden velvet ribbon. We were also able to view the original manuscript, and as Jackie explained, 'a rare creature' in this digital age. Feather,Leaf, bark and Stone has now gone to print and is due to be published on 23rd June. 'This book is full of the light and wind that fills the Pembrokeshire coast where it was crafted, each page anchored to the landscape by the mechanical rhythm of Jackie's antique typewriters. The result is a collection of individual artworks to be both looked at and read. It is poetry re-imagined by a visual artist; words transformed back into their original function as images. Feather, Leaf, Bark & Stone announces a new departure for Jackie Morris and confirms her as an artist and writer at the peak of her power.' Naturally the Seven Fables' edition will hold a little extra magic... Unbound are producing a limited print run for independent bookshops which will have a distinct gold-foiled blue dust jacket - our copies will be stamped with a unique golden labyrinth and of course signed. Copies are available to pre-order, either in-store or via our website, and if you do so by midnight on 7th June, then you will be entered into our draw* to win a treasured labyrinth stone and its framed golden soul. The stone was found on the beach at Druidstone Haven, washed in the waterfall there and gilded while she was staying at the Round House. 'found where fresh water falls the skin of stone like the skin of a seal smooth selkie brush with water and colour of stone and scent of stone will sing a song of the sea' Feather, Leaf, Bark and Stone £20.00 Delivery within the UK £4.00 You may order copies here and good luck! We do post overseas, with shipping at cost, please enquire. *The winner was notified on the 8th June 2022, and has claimed their prize - 'Thank you so much, I will treasure it!' Diana from Buckinghamshire

The Seven Fables' Walking Book Club with Katharine Norbury Spring Equinox 2022 It was a delight to welcome Katharine Norbury to Exmoor to celebrate the arrival of spring and her beautiful anthology, Women on Nature. Produced by Unbound, Seven Fables initially pledged to support the project in 2018 and the book was published last May. Intuitively it felt like the perfect publication for us to support, not realising at the time that many of the writers included are those whose books we have read for our Walking Book Club, including Kathleen Jamie, Helen Macdonald, Elizabeth-Jane Burnett and Kitty Aldridge. Kitty’s novel, Cryer’s Hill has stayed with me since we read it in 2014 and whenever I walk at Dunster’s Horse Pond, her characters accompany me - even if one is submerged! When Unbound asked Katharine if she would curate an anthology of women’s writing about the natural world, she couldn’t believe it hadn’t been done already. She admits she was skeptical about the gender focus, but also very aware how nature writing is classified - that we as a species are perceived as separate, removed from nature and observers of something 'other' and so the title is a play on words and a nod to Susan Griffin's controversial book Woman and Nature: The Roaring Inside Her published in 1978. The term anthology derives from the latin to gather flowers, and Katharine has applied no literary snobbery to the writers she has gathered, and it is a joy to see the inclusion of Daisy by Cicely Mary Barker, creator of The Flower Fairies, a childhood introduction for many to the naming of trees and wildflowers. Poet Jane Lovell was also able to join us having recently moved to Exmoor. Two of her poems are published in the collection and Katharine would gladly have included more had space permitted as she truly admires her writing, and it was a pleasure to hear Jane read in the spring sunshine. Thank you to Katharine and Jane, it was an inspiring afternoon enjoyed by all those who ventured into the woods with us. Signed copies of Women on Nature are available to purchase directly from the shelves at Seven Fables - simply e-mail info@sevenfables.co.uk to order a copy. Delivery within the UK is £4.00. For those of you motivated by Women on Nature to read further we have put together a selection of titles featured in the anthology on our Bookshop.org profile. Do enjoy browsing the collection...

Seven Books for Seven Schools... Last month, Jackie Morris kindly donated her artist proof of A Charm of Goldfinches to raise funds to place books within school libraries. Published by Aquarelle, the limited edition of 45 gold foiled prints quickly sold out, so this was a unique opportunity, and the customer that bought it was delighted.... 'I just wanted to let you know that I received the print today, thank you for packaging it so well. It is great to see the print in real life – my husband and I love it. The print feels even more special as it has helped to donate so many books to schools. If you get a chance, please pass our thanks to the artist.' BL The print sold for £800, and our initial aim was to post parcels to seven schools, with each 'charm of books' worth £130. The schools who received parcels were those who were the first to reply to the callout in our newsletter and via our social media feeds. We actually sent out nine parcels - one school's response prompted us to sponsor an extra 'charm' especially for them. 'Oh My If ever a school needed beauty, and nature and all its pace brings to reset time it’s ours. Our children have been caught up for a whole two years in a storm of lockdown and the uncertainty it has brought to their lives. They come back to school blinking into the light, unsure of all things. To sit with a book that quietly relates the reassurance of nature and find comfort in that which is a certainty is just what they need, and indeed aside of our love, all we can offer them unconditionally in this world. So yes and yes, please consider us for a charm of books, we would treasure them.' DD The schools to receive books were Rockwell Green Primary School, Wellington, Somerset Pilton Infants & Junior School, Barnstaple, Devon Halberton Primary School, Halberton, Devon Ysgol y Rofft / The Rofft School, Marford, Wrexham Bampton C of E Primary School, Bampton, Devon BHA Potting Sheds, Bredon Hill Academy, Evesham, Worcestershire Greenfylde School, Ilminster, Somerset Weald of Kent Grammar School, Tonbridge, Kent Abernethy Primary, Abernethy, Perth A tenth 'charm' was bought as a gift, and yet to be gifted so we must not spoil the surprise! Parcels arrived with schools during book week, which was perfect timing, and are already inspiring class projects and being avidly read. 'Thank you so much for the beautiful charm of books. Just their arrival touched and lifted our heats; they are already being treasured and enjoyed. X' CL It has been a delight to gift books to school libraries, my primary school, like many small village schools had no library but it did fit in as many bookshelves as possible and they meant the world to me! Thank you to Jackie for gifting her Charm of Finches to raise funds to make these gifts possible.

Celebrate the publication of The Wild Swans and East of the Sun, West of the Moon by Jackie Morris with Seven Fables... While staying at Northmoor House this summer we created two short films with Jackie Morris to mark the re-publication of The Wild Swans and East of the Sun West of the Moon. Originally published by Frances Lincoln, we held two magical events - for the latter we serendipitously discovered we were seated amid the bluebells, east of the sun, west of the moon, for it is a time not a place! These exquisite editions, published by Unbound, feature new illustrations and the tales within have been granted wild space to breath by the skilled design eye of Alison O'Toole. The Wild Swans is inscribed with an unexpected dedication... xxxxxxx Jackie has gifted Seven Fables the most wonderful doodled, and stitched proof which could be yours to treasure. Between now and midnight on Christmas Eve, simply subscribe to our Seven Fables newsletter to be entered into the draw. The winner will be notified by e-mail on Twelfth Night. You will find the subscription form on the home page of our website. If you already subscribe then do check the newsletter that was sent on Saturday 23rd October to see how you may enter. Exclusive editions of both titles are available to purchase from Seven Fables. The Wild Swans is stamped with a golden 'Ivy' hound, and East of the Sun with a silver bear. Priced at £16.99, delivery within the UK is £3.00. Call 01398 324457 or e-mail info@sevenfables.co.uk to place your order. We do post overseas but there is a minimum order value of £40. Prints and originals are also for sale and can be viewed on Jackie's dedicated portfolio page. The top image was taken in her studio in Pembrokeshire and shows one of the final images created for The Wild Swans - 'She cried as she rode away from her home in the wood. He mistook her tears for joy at being rescued.' Original watercolour £4,200 Frame size 64 x 51 cm Free delivery within the UK, overseas at cost Please do enquire Prize Draw Rules THE WINNER WAS NOTIFIED BY E-MAIL ON 6th JANUARY 2022 - PLEASE DO CHECK YOUR IN BOX! The winner will be notified by e-mail on Twelfth Night 6th January 2022. If we do not receive a reply by January 13th then the prize will be offered to a second winner 'drawn from the hat.' Postage of your prize will be free if you are resident within the UK, however if you are based overseas international shipping costs will be applied. The prize is non transferable. Your e-mail address will not be shared with any third party and will only be used for mailing out our Seven Fables newsletter - you may unsubscribe at any time. By entering you agree to these terms and conditions Thank you and good luck!

The Seven Fables' Walking Book Club | October 2021 What a wonderful afternoon in the company of Raynor Winn! Thank you to everyone who joined our walk, the perfect October weather and the woods of Dulverton for providing the perfect setting... An afternoon to remember, and certainly worth waiting for after such uncertain times. Raynor and Moth are such an inspiration to so many and it was a joy to finally meet them both. Before Raynor headed back home to Cornwall she kindly signed a teetering pile of books, so if you would like a signed paperback copy of The Wild Silence and The Salt Path, please do get in touch info@sevenfables.co.uk. Delivery within the UK is £3.00 There was also talk of her returning to Dulverton... All Images Copyright Seven Fables Dulverton