#mandy haggith

[woodlandtrust]

Listening to the Trees - Mandy Haggith

And the birch says it’s about dancing and colour

and the rowan says it’s about berries and birds

and the willow says it’s about shape and shelter

and the hazel says it’s about love and lichen

and the aspen says it’s about growth and the wind

but I say it’s about listening to the trees

[saraband]

Bear Witness is Waterstones Book of the Week

Bear Witness has been chosen as Waterstones Book of the Week in the Sunday Mail from 16th-23rd June 2013. 

"Scotland has said yes to independence, possibility abounds, and ecologist Callis MacArthur is shocked into activism by the very public murder of a bear cub. So opens Mandy Haggith’s second novel, a forestful of myth, constellation, fairytale and matters of heart.

At the unexpected death of her mother, Callis returns from Norway to an order of friends, the fee-fi-fo of the Feminist Philosophical Photographic Society, and a playground pal called Malcolm. One-night-stand romance, however, nags at Callis as she tours the bear havens of Romania and Sweden, exploring behaviour and habitat for a government reintroduction project of the species to Norway (and some day too, Scotland?). To add salt to the porridge, a research colleague named Yuri takes the huff from her rebuff, and slanders her professional reputation all over Scandinavia.

The Rock Ness festival, magic mushrooms, two bear-loving Finnish eco warriors and mad aunt Marjory all collide in a breathless second act, as the novel talks politics – which in no way slows the pace – and endless ferrying, moving from the book from parliaments to caravans, hope to no hope…

Bear Witness is a shifting work, a foot in the future and one a thousand years in the past, its head in rock dens and its heart in stars. The landscape of the novel is utterly contemporary, and yet is pined on a dot-to-dot of classical mythology. Its themes are ‘big’ – mothers and cubs, love, friendships new and enduring, the politics of independence, the bare self and the beat nation – and its scope positively continental. If you have delighted in the natural world writing of Kathleen Jamie, or the lonesome, poetic prose of Nan Shepherd, this is a novel that will raise both hopes and questions for the debate our nation faces."

[saraband]

Whilst travelling around Norway Callis is presented with a carving of a scene from an old folk story, which tells of the wily fox and the bear. 

Extract from Mandy Haggith's latest novel 'Bear Witness', published by Saraband Books and available in print, audio and eBook formats.

[saraband]

Callis and Malcolm see Utla perform at a music festival in Tromso, Norway. From the new audiobook of Bear Witness by Mandy Haggith, published by Saraband Books and available here: http://www.amazon.co.uk/Bear-Witness-Unabridged/dp/B00CILCE4Y/ref=sr_1_1_title_2_audd?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1370593026&sr=1-1&keywords=bear+witness

[blakekbrooks]

Publishing, reviews, and the whole goddamn industry problem

I’m sat in the Sauchiehall Street branch of Waterstone’s listening to Mandy Haggith debate the reintroduction of bears to the wilds of Scotland, at the launch of her latest novel ‘Bear Witness’.The novel is a brilliant insight into the feasibility of this, whilst also telling the compelling and emotional journey of Scottish lass Callis MacArthur. Set across Norway, Scotland, Romania and Finland the novel is part romance, part quest and part ecological manifesto.

I am one of only around twenty people who have turned up for the launch, despite a facebook group for the event, tweets and direct mailing promoting it online. To my right is stacked copy after copy of ‘Inferno’ by Dan Brown, released this week, one of numerous stands dedicated to the new release around the four-storey shop (and every other store across the UK).

I am already familiar with the plot of ‘Inferno’ despite having no special interest in Dan Brown or having read any of his previous novels. Coverage of his latest release has dominated literary magazines, newspapers, magazines and general press. His work is largely dismissed on a literary basis, being considered ‘crowd-pleasing’ holiday reading and a novel read for enjoyment rather than for any kind of literary merit. Personally I’ve never gone in for the idea of ‘literary merit’, I think Dickens is awfully over-wordy, Ulysses is famous for a 63 page wank and Hardy’s plots are too heavily reliant upon coincidence and chance rather than crafted direction. Regardless, Dan Brown is a perfect example of how all publicity is good publicity. He has little more credo than E.L.James and yet his face, his novel and his films have all dominated British media the last two weeks. Why is a well-written novel by a great author being ignored by the media, whilst a tiresomely bad writer like Dan Brown gets unquantifiable column inches and free publicity. What does this say about the value of a good novel?

Something is wrong in the state of publishing. Or rather, something is wrong with literary editors and literature review sections of newspapers and magazines who repeatedly fail to read anything that doesn’t have ‘the next fifty shades of grey’ on the blurb or an endorsement by Stephen Fry. Everyone has heard of Jodi Picoult, or Marian Keyes, despite them being the fast-food equivalent of literature. If we are to extend the metaphor, how would we feel if the food sections of magazines just said ‘go to nando’s’ or ‘how to make chips at home’ rather than suggesting we slave for hours over soufflés and risotto’s? Perhaps we don’t want okra salad with quinoa every day but good food guides advise on exactly that – good food. Why do literature sections fail us when it comes to the same? At best we are directed to the Hornby’s and Boyd’s, or the middle class London-centric output of company’s like Granta. What about a few columns dedicated to a book coming out of Scotland that hasn’t been published by Canongate? Why are literary editors so scared of supporting small independent publishers? They need the publicity and support a hell of a lot more than the latest Harper Collins bestseller, which can budget for media campaigns and promote more than adequately without the pandering love-in from review columnists. It infuriates me and disappoints me that an industry so dedicated to culture and so fond of its elitist heritage now celebrates trash-lit more than good reads, and celebrity authors over eloquent poets. 

I should state that there is a bias to this rant, which is that I work for a small publishing company and don't like Dan Brown.

[culturelaser]

Mandy Haggith on Paper Trails

Ryan got rid of his printer a few weeks ago because he'd stopped using it. So is everyone reducing the amount of paper they use? As someone interested in literature, Ryan obviously has a very special relationship with paper and so he was fascinated to sit down to talk with activist and writer Mandy Haggith, author of Paper Trails: From Trees to Trash - the True Cost of Paper, a book about where all the paper we use comes from. She shares a number of alarming statistics- including the fact that catalogue retailer Argos used to be responsible for 1 per cent of the UK's total consumption of paper.

Find out more on Mandy's website. We also feature the track 'Ghosts' from Hiva Oa. 

Download episode.

Presented by Ryan Van Winkle @rvwable. Produced by Colin Fraser of Culture Laser Productions @culturelaser. Theme by Mikel Krumins.