Kirkwall
The Nature Library will be installed at St Magnus Cathedral, Kirkwall in spring 2024 as part of the Orkney Nature Festival.
North Berwick
The Nature Library will be installed at The Seabird Centre, North Berwick in winter 2024 as part of the centre’s Winter Wonders programme.
Glasgow - Take One Action
The Nature Library will be installed at Take One Action Film Festival at CCA, Glasgow from 6-8 December.
Glasgow
The Nature Library will be installed at the Scottish Opera Production Studios in Glasgow until October 22.
Lochmaddy
The Nature Library will be installed at Taigh Chearsabhagh in Lochmaddy, North Uist as part of On Sonorous Seas, an exhibition by Mhairi Killin in collaboration with Fergus Hall, Tom deMajo, Miek Zwamborn and Susie Leiper.
Moniaive
The Nature Library will be at the Moniaive Midsummer Gathering by the Glencairn Woods & Land Trust on June 24 and June 25 2023.
OBAN
The Nature Library will be installed at The Rockfield Centre in Oban School as part of its Argyll Hope Spot exhibition. April 18 - May 6.
Glasgow
The Nature Library will be installed at the Reid Gallery in Glasgow School of Art’s Reid Building from 26 November – 17 December 2022 as part of On Sonorous Seas, an exhibition by Mhairi Killin in collaboration with Fergus Hall, Tom deMajo, Miek Zwamborn and Susie Leiper.
Climate Fringe: Ullapool
The Nature Library comes to the Ullapool Ferry Terminal as part of Climate Fringe Festival 2022.
Climate Fringe: Cladach
The Nature Library comes to the Arran Botanical Drinks Beach House in Cladach as part of Climate Fringe Festival 2022.
Lamlash
The Nature Library will be held at the COAST Discovery Centre in Lamlash on July 30th & 31st.
The Community of Arran Seabed Trust (COAST) is a community-led organisation that has made a huge difference to the conservation and restoration of the seas around Arran and the Clyde for the past 25 years, and were instrumental in the creation of the Lamlash Bay No Take Zone, protecting its maerl beds, seagrass meadows, kelp forests and spectacular sea life.
Visiting hours are 10am - 4pm.
EVENTS
Saturday 30 July, 11AM — Storytelling with local storyteller Marty Ross. FREE, no booking required.
Sunday 31 July, 11AM — Books & Beachcoming. FREE, no booking required.
Entry is free and unticketed. Members of COAST and The Nature Library will be on hand to guide you.
If you require any assistance to attend, please visit the COAST website here for access information or contact us at thenaturelib@gmail.com.
For more information, visit arrancoast.com
Birnam
The Nature Library will be held at Birnam Arts, Birnam from July 1 - August 31 2022 as part off their nATURE exhibition alongside Simone Kenyon (Into the Mountain), Alicia Escott and Heidi Quante (The Bureau of Linguistical Reality) and Katherine Fay Allan (Insect Mimicry: a call for interspecies empathy).
Visiting hours are 10am - 4pm daily.
Entry is free and unticketed. Staff will be on hand to guide you.
If you require any assistance to attend, please visit the Birnam Arts website here for access information or contact us at thenaturelib@gmail.com.
For more information visit www.birnamarts.com
John Muir's Birthplace
The Nature Library will be held at John Muir’s Birthplace, Dunbar from April 1 - May 15 2022.
Visiting hours are Mon—Sat 10am to 5pm (last entry 4.15pm), Sun 1pm to 5pm (last entry 4.15pm)
Entry is free and unticketed. Staff will be on hand to guide you.
Hand sanitiser will be provided on entry. Please use this before handling any of the books on display.
If you require any assistance to attend, please visit the John Muir’s Birthplace website here for access information, or contact us at thenaturelib@gmail.com.
For more information visit www.jmbt.org.uk
Stills Centre for Photography, Edinburgh
The Nature Library will reopen at Stills Centre for Photography in Edinburgh on Thursday 29 July 2021.
Situated in the front gallery space, The Nature Library will display books by writers, artists and photographers inspired by the natural world, including books from Stills’ own library collection, all exploring the links between nature, art and literature.
To further bring the outdoors in, the reading space has been dressed with a botanical installation by Wild Flower Workshop and scented by A Library of Olfactive Material.
Visiting The Nature Library at Stills:
Stills Centre for Photography is located at 23 Cockburn Street, Edinburgh, EH 1 1BP.
Visiting hours are Tuesday-Saturday 12-5pm
Entry is free and unticketed, however the gallery is limited to 6 visitors at one time so a short wait may be required before entering. Staff will be on hand to guide you.
While the risk of surface transmission of coronavirus is considered to be low, we know that for peace of mind it’s better to be on the safe side. Here are the measures we’ve put in place:
Hand sanitiser will be provided on entry. Please use this before handling any of the books on display.
Audio extracts including poetry by Suzannah V. Evans and Samuel Tongue plus readings by The Nature Library will be available inside the gallery and on the Stills website.
And of course, all visitors are asked to wear a mask and respect social distancing rules.
If you have questions about visiting or require any assistance to attend, please contact us at thenaturelib@gmail.com or on Twitter and Instagram @thenaturelib.
The Nature Library at Stills. Photo by Alan Dimmick
Online: Nature x Black Lives Matter
Reading Group: Allies In The Landscape
Writer Jessica J Lee (Two Trees Make A Forest, Turning) has started an online reading group created to combat anti-Black racism in nature & the outdoors, taking place in June, July and August. Free and no need to register, the group meets on Twitter at a designated time each month, prompted by discussion topics from @jessicajlee.
July’s theme was Reflecting, reading The Grassling by Elizabeth-Jane Burnett, as well as Jennifer Neal’s online article Notes on White Guilt.
June’s theme was Listening, reading Trace by Lauret Savoy with questions centred on dismantling assumptions in how we think about experiencing nature, and generating tangible actions in our fields to make space for & amplify Black voices.
As well as Trace, June’s reading material included this extract from Reni Eddo-Lodge’s Why I’m No Longer Talking To White People About Race.
Excerpt: The Grassling, Elizabeth-Jane Burnett
You can read an excerpt from Elizabeth-Jane Burnett’s geological memoir The Grassling on The Nature Library’s Page A Day series.
Essay: At the Water’s Edge, Louisa Adjoa Parker
An extract from Louisa Adjoa Parker’s coastal memoir coastal memoir due to be published by Little Toller Books in 2020/21.
Online Journal: The Willowherb Review
The Willowherb Review is an online journal of aims to provide a digital platform to celebrate and bolster nature writing by emerging and established writers of colour.
They are currently accepting submissions until 30 June, 2020 at 21:59 (GMT)
Fiction: And Peace Shall Return, Ben Okri
20,000 years into the future, an exploration of the Earth uncovers the final notes and unfinished stories left behind by the last human beings in the twilight of their history.
Article: I’m a black climate expert. Racism derails our efforts to save the planet, Ayana Elizabeth Johnson
Marine biologist, policy advisor, and Brooklyn native Ayana Elizabeth Johnson on how racism makes the challenge of stopping climate change even more challenging.
Interview: Sheridan Alford and Black Birders Week, Kara J Norton
Sheridan Alford is one of the organisers behind the online movement Black Birders Week. In this interview she speaks about her passion for wildlife and the great outdoors, the formation of Black AF in STEM, and the increased diversity she would like to see within environmental and outdoor spaces.
Essay: Going It Alone, Rahawa Haile
What happens when an African American woman decides to solo-hike the Appalachian Trail from Georgia to Maine during a summer of bitter political upheaval? Everything you can imagine, from scary moments of racism to new friendships to soaring epiphanies about the timeless value of America’s most storied trekking route.
Essay: From Dirt, Camille T Dungy
As she prepares to plant Cherokee pole beans—descendants from beans carried on the Trail of Tears—Camille T. Dungy reflects on the legacy and journey, triumph and trauma, of seeds for Emergence Magazine.
Podcast: The White Man Stole the Weather, Mothers of Invention
Interview: Jackie Kay and Tracy K Smith: what did one poet laureate say to the other?
US poet laureate Tracy K Smith speaks with Jackie Kay, Scotland’s makar, to talk about everything from being a public figure to poetry in the age of Trump, prejudice and gatekeeping in the literary sector, and poetry’s role in bringing comfort to both the audience and the poet.
Article: Being black while in nature: 'You’re an endangered species'
Poppy Noor writes of the inequalities that Black people face when attempting to connect with the natural world, as well as the history of public lands intentionally excluding Black people.
Article: Omission of air pollution from report on Covid-19 and race ‘astonishing’
Damian Carrington looks at the failure to consider air pollution as a factor in higher COVID-19 death toll among ethnic minorities.
Interview: Roger Robinson: 'Poets can translate trauma'
Antia Sethi speaks to writer and musician Roger Robinson about his prize-winning poetry collection, his Caribbean education and why the death of George Floyd has been felt so strongly in the UK
Study: Rethinking ‘Diversity’ in Publishing
Rethinking ‘Diversity’ in Publishing is the first academic study in the UK which looks at how cultural production itself might disadvantage writers of colour. The Report is published by Goldsmiths Press.
You can read the study here
Organisation: Black AF In Stem
Celebrating Black experiences in Science, Technology, Economics, Engineering, and Mathematics. This month Black AF In Stem presented Black Birders Week showcasing black naturalists with online events such as live streams, Q&As and discussion.
Organisation: Scottish BAME Writers Network
The Scottish BAME Writers Network was co-founded by Alycia Pirmohamed and Jay G Ying in 2018 to provide advocacy, literary events and professional development opportunities for BAME writers based in or from Scotland.
Call To Action: Scottish Literary Sector
If you identify as BAME and have ties to Scotland you’re encouraged to join their Facebook Group, and Scottish literary organisations that want to connect with them are asked to email ScotBAMEWriters@gmail.com
Poem: Ross Gay — Tomato On Board from The Book Of Delights
Talk: Greening The Ghetto, Majora Carter
Interview: The Cooking Gene, Michael Twitty
Books
A Scots Dictionary of Nature, Amanda Thomson
African American Environmental Thought, Kimberly Smith
Black Faces, White Spaces, Carolyn Finney
Black On Earth, Kimberly Ruffin
The Black Shoals: Offshore Formations of Black and Native Studies, Tiffany Lethabo King
Blessing The Boats, Lucille Clifton
The Book of Delights, Ross Gay
The Challenge For Africa, Wangari Maathai
The Environmental Justice Reader, Joni Adamson
Farming While Black, Leah Penniman
Freedom Farmers, Monica White
Frontline, Nick Meynen
The Grassling, Elizabeth Jane-Burnett
Pan-African Social Ecology, Modibo Kadalie
Trophic Cascade, Camille T Dungy
Support
Black Minds Matter
Black Lives Matter
Wild In The City
Inclusive Indies*
*We’re delighted to learn that Inclusive Indies reached their fundraising goal, but you can follow the campaign to keep up to date with news and releases.
Other useful resource lists:
Earth By Helena
InkCap — Black in Nature
Finding My Climate-Conscious Tribe: Black Nature Lovers and Writers
It goes without saying that this list is non-exhaustive, and aims to act as a starting point for your own path towards a greater understanding of Black experiences in nature, elevating their voices and actively combatting anti-Black racism. If you have anything to add to this page, please email thenaturelib@gmail.com.
Postponed: A Library of Olfactive Materials, Glasgow
From April 1-18 The Nature Library will be situated at A Library of Olfactive Materials in Glasgow with a specially curated collection of books evoking the aromas of the natural world.
The Project Cafe
Field Notes In Adrift-ness Workshop in collaboration with Must Use Critical Knowledge (MUCK)
Field Notes In Adrift-ness Workshop in collaboration with Must Use Critical Knowledge (MUCK)
