In returning, nearly 30 years on, to the territories he last explored in his 1992 Trabant travelogue Stalin’s Nose, Rory … More
Author: richardsmyth
I'm a writer, journalist, editor, cartoonist and general freelance cultural janitor.
New Humanist essay: In Search Of The ‘Nature Cure’
We have always believed in the healing power of our natural landscape, one way or another – but has it been overstated?
Dark Mountain essay: Telling The Devil’s Tales
How are we to novelise the sixth great extinction?
The Author essay: The Opposite Of Not Funny
Whatever humanity is, I think humour is at the heart of it.
Geographical review: ‘Working With Nature: Saving And Using The World’s Wild Places’, Jeremy Purseglove (Profile, 2019)
The central message of this book, Jeremy Purseglove writes, is that ‘we may nibble away at the planet, but we cannot afford to swallow the lot’.
The Guardian Country Diary: a small wild place by the side of the canal
As we slosh through a wet summer it’s good to spend a little time reflecting on water as a vibrant and vivifying thing.
Review: ‘Landfill’, Tim Dee (Little Toller, 2018)
This is a book about gulls, but it’s a good deal else, too: it’s an exploration of waste, a rummaging, bent double and elbows-deep, in human detritus.
Country Diary: golden plovers shine, even in the winter
Until the flock tilts towards the just-risen sun, I’m not sure what I’m watching, over the arable fields that abut the seashore here.
New Humanist essay: The Cult Of Nature Writing
They are haunted by visions. They are visited by strange dreams. They are the nature writers, and they bring us wisdom from the wilderness.
Richard Smyth 