Photo by Esther May Campbell
I am the author of three travel books about walking in different parts of Europe – Outlandish, Where the Wild Winds Are and Walking the Woods and the Water – as well as The Parakeeting of London, a work of ‘gonzo ornithology’. Loss Soup and Other Stories is my first short fiction collection. Red Smoking Mirror is my debut novel.
My books have twice been finalists for the Stanford Dolman Travel Book of the Year, and my novel was shortlisted for the Edward Stanford Viking Award for Fiction with a Sense of Place. My work has been translated into Italian, German, Dutch and French (with Chinese on the way), and included in The Best British Travel Writing of the 21st Century.
My articles have appeared in The Guardian, The Irish Times, The Economist, Aeon, Emergence, New Internationalist, Noema, Literary Review, Perspective, Resurgence & Ecologist, Caught By the River, Slightly Foxed, The Passenger, Narratively, Alexander, Ernest, Political Insight, Geographical, Dark Mountain and other publications.
I am an occasional contributor to BBC Radio 4’s ‘From Our Own Correspondent’, and a recipient of the Royal Geographical Society Journey of a Lifetime Award – producing this BBC Radio 4 programme about South Asian migrant workers returning home from the UAE after the 2008 financial crash.
As well as writing, I work as an editor, mentor, tutor and storyteller. I am a co-director of the Dark Mountain Project.
My agent is Jessica Woollard at David Higham Associates.
If you’d like to receive a (very occasional) newsletter about my books, articles and more, you can sign up here
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