I had a gardener come to my house last week to prune my green gauge tree, which has grown so out of control over the summer. I wanted someone to do it properly rather than me hacking at it. As he was doing that, he trimmed back my neighbours' beautiful ash tree a little that hangs over Hangsau Garden. He saw the first signs of ash die back in it and he said he'd tapped its roots and they were hollow already. And I felt this incredible wave of grief come over me, not just for that tree, for all the beautiful trees that shade our gardens,. which were all passing this terrible disease from one to another. And we'll lose them
Jay Griffiths’ writing has long explored the link between land, culture and our potential for connection, but her father’s death during lockdown made this more vital than ever. Denied the comfort or closure of a funeral, Jay had to find other ways to connect, mourn and memorialise, and in this gentle, wide-ranging conversation she and Katherine talk about imaginary journeys, ritual and delving into a sense of place.
Behind all of Jay’s work is an ecological urgency, and a sense of grief for the life that we seem to be losing. Here, it’s expressed through the idea of homelessness, both literal and metaphorical. But she also introduces us to the character of Nemesis, offering us a model for justice that might just see us through the next decades.
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Katherine's new book, Enchantment, is released in March 2023. Pre-order now: US/CAN and UK
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