Rob Cowen

Immersive and exquisite; evocative and powerful, Common Ground is a unique evocation of how, over the course of one year, Rob Cowen came to discover a forgotten realm and its inhabitants. This was not some distant jungle or craggy peak, but half a square mile of wood, meadow, hedge and river on the edge of a northern town, to which he'd moved to after seven years of living in London. An old map given as a Christmas present revealed this little patch of green to be just out of his door and beyond the last housing estate. This was the beginning of a total absorption in this seam of land and the animals within it. Through daily and often nightly pilgrimages, voices began to rise from the fields, woods and old railway line. And over the course of that year, the stories and histories of this place and its occupants began to mirror and illuminate events happening in Rob's own life: birth, death, fatherhood. Common Ground offers nothing less than a new way of writing and reading about nature and our experiences within it. Here, the perspectives of this edge-land's inhabitants are set before us in kaleidoscopic detail: a fox; tawny owl; hare; badger; butterfly; swift; mayfly; roe deer; nettles; people across the ages. Through the lives of all of these - and the passage of Cowen's year - we are offered a layered, intimate and startling portrait of a single piece of common ground. For it is a microcosm of our world at large: beautiful, connected, terrifying, growing closer to the edge every day.

Common Ground

The world changed in 2020. Gradually at first, then quickly and irreversibly, the patterns by which we once lived altered completely. Full of love and loss, solidarity and suffering, The Heeding paints a picture of a year caught in the grip of history, yet filled with revelatory perspectives close at hand: a sparrowhawk hunting in a back street; the moon over a town with a loved-one's hand held tight; butterflies massing in a high-summer yard - remembrances of the moments that shape a life. Collecting birds, animals, trees and people together, and surfacing memories along the way, The Heeding evolves to become a profound meditation to a time no-one will forget. Across four seasons and through a sequence of luminous poems and illustrations, Rob Cowen and Nick Hayes lead us on a journey that takes its markers and signs from nature and a world filled with terror and pain, but beauty and wonder too. At its heart, this is a book that helps us look again, to heed: to be attentive to this world we share and this history we're living through, to be aware of how valuable and fragile we are, to grieve what's lost, and to hope for a better and brighter tomorrow. It is an unforgettable book that will break your heart, but mend it also.

The Heeding

Commond Ground

Nick Hayes

A year of looking, listening and noticing across four unique seasons and thirty-five beautifully illustrated poems. The world changed in 2020. Gradually at first, then quickly and irreversibly, the patterns by which we once lived altered completely. Across four seasons and a luminous series of poems and illustrations, Rob Cowen and Nick Hayes paint a picture of a year caught in the grip of history yet filled with unforgettable moments. A sparrowhawk hunting in a back street; the moon over a town with a loved one's hand held tight; butterflies massing in a high-summer yard - the everyday wonders and memories that shape a life and help us recall our own. The Heeding leads us on a journey that takes its markers and signs from nature and a world filled with fear and pain but beauty and wonder too. Collecting birds, animals, trees and people together, it is a profound meditation to a time no one will forget. 'Rob Cowen, the acclaimed nature writer and author Common Ground, joins forces with printmaker Nick Hayes for this luminous sequence of poems, which forms a meditation on our relationship with the natural world through four seasons of a global pandemic.' - Caroline Sanderson, Editor's Choice, The Bookseller 'Dazzling' ROBERT MACFARLANE ⬤ 'Breathtaking!' DARA MCANULTY ⬤ 'Exquisite' LUCY JONES ⬤ 'Poetic' JOANNE HARRIS ⬤ 'Tender' TIM DEE ⬤ 'Beautiful' WILLEM DAFOE ⬤ 'It glows' JACKIE MORRIS

Leo Critchley

Skimming Stones and Other Ways of Being Wild is a book of simple skills that can help us to interact with nature, achieve a deeper connection with it and even step inside another dimension.Rob Cowen and Leo Critchley teach us, for example, making and flying a kite, making an elder whistle, damming a stream and building a den - and at the same time teach us about life.Their techniques are intended to be not only of practical value but also techniques for meditation. They help us to live in the moment, recover ancient insights and rhythms and encourage nature to reveal to us her secrets and treasures.They write that '...there are forces deep in everyone's subconscious that find a pure expression in the simplest of activities. This book explains why we should be taking the time to do them. It is born out of a wish to share our passion for our landscape and the contemplative, reflective pleasures and joys that were well-known to our grandparents, but which are in danger of being lost and forgotten. They will help us get back to a place where we all belong'.

Rob Cowen

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