Grass In a courtyard of black tree-like columns, fragile young pasture carpet covers cracked ground. Deer and rabbits congregate silently to eat pale shoots. Under hoof and paw and shoot lies wreckage. Once proud Douglas fir trees, ancient cedar, hemlock and white pine; what was rich and diverse forest is now blistered earth and […]
Dear Earth, put us on probation. You are doing this already with the pandemics that you send us. Try and test us, put us through the suffering we deserve. Too often we have been saved by the benevolence of the universe; and because salvation like that has come easily to us, we do not learn. […]
Content warning: this essay contains descriptions and an image of animal suffering some readers may find distressing. Having retired to Phuket in Thailand in 2003, my wife Gill and I were keen to make a positive difference in our adopted home. Having long been aware of the terrible suffering of the ever-increasing stray dog population, […]
A year ago, my son Raphaël Coleman, aka #IggyFox, died suddenly of an undiagnosed heart condition. Here’s what I have learned, and what he taught me. Even in the most crushing grief, we are hard-wired to survive. The moment a human heart is broken, microscopic seeds of new life begin to germinate. This is your […]
‘Small Axe’ writer Courttia Newland shares an excerpt from his new novel, ‘A River Called Time‘ (Canongate, 2021), and speaks to Writers Rebel’s James Miller about Afro-Futurism, dystopia and the ecological movement. A River Called Time: An Excerpt He sank into the silence, grateful for the life that surrounded him on all sides, an unseen […]
The incredible story of Yaku Pérez, an indigenous water defender who, after being jailed and nearly assassinated for his activism, is among the top three candidates in Ecuador’s presidential election, taking place on February 7th. #YakuPresidente #ClaroQueSePuede, #YakuEs […]
Mary Wollstonecraft is best known for her pioneering writing on human rights, feminism and education. But one of her lesser-known works contains a startlingly prophetic insight into humankind’s impact on the environment. By @BeeRowlatt How did you first become aware of the natural world’s vulnerability to the impact of humans? Did it come as an […]
Continuing our series of videos from our On the Brink event, here is model, actress & campaigner Lily Cole speaking passionately about the plight of the rusty patched bumble bee. […]
Maryland, 1988. Junior high. Our task in Mr. M’s class: author a dispatch to a pal on Phobos, a moon of Mars, communicating highlights about our world. This task had a catch: ABC’s fifth and most common mark was off limits — for, as Mr. M told us, this symbol didn’t occur on Phobos. This […]