On writing about spring

Added on 15 April 2017

Spring is here again, bringing primroses, geese overhead and all the other delights that come around at this time of year. I’ve just done a podcast of spring poems (here), and realise that I have sinned. Or have I? Reading an anthology of new poetry recently, I was struck by the editorial intr...

More good things bears do in the woods

Added on 08 April 2017

There are a couple of fascinating videos that I've been pointed to repeatedly over the past couple of weeks. The first one (here) is Suzanne Simard talking about trees communicating with each other. It's full of fascinating research about the ways that trees in a forest co-operate, passing c...

Preparing for bears

Added on 19 March 2017

Anyone who has read my novels (special offer here!) won’t be surprised that I’m in favour of the reintroduction of carnivores to Scotland. It’s an obvious solution to the problem we face of over-sized populations of deer. As usual I’m running a car with a massive dent in the...