I was recently in Girona carrying out research on a biography I am working on about the lives of three sisters who lived in the 11th century: Almodis de La Marche, Raingarde de La Marche and Lucia de La Marche. More on the sisters and the biography in a later post. In this post, I…
Offcuts from research
This month, I’m working on the final rewrites for my next historical novel, The Anarchy. The book will be published on 2 June and you can preorder it here. In the course of researching my books, I’m forever having to keep the story focused and leave out some of the fascinating characters and facts from history….
Dartington Laser – Tracking Water
The third in the Dartington Laser talks series – Art After The Collapse – takes place tomorrow, Friday 15 Nov, 7pm-9.15, free, at Dartington Studio 3. Pay bar in the Space Cafe from 6pm. The series considers how artists are working on ‘deep adaptation’ to a climate and ecological collapse that some say has already…
Dartington Laser Talks – Art After The Collapse 2
In tomorrow’s second session of the Dartington Laser talks series – Art After The Collapse – artists Shezad Dawood, Neal White, Vivek Vilasini, Ellie Harrison and Paul Chaney will be talking about visions of deep adaptation for societal and ecological change in their artworks. Art After The Collapse is curated and chaired by Rob La…
The Anarchy – coming soon
I’ve just submitted the manuscript for The Anarchy to my publishers. The book is the third in the trilogy on Nest ferch Rhys and the struggle between the Welsh and the Normans in the 12th century. In this novel, Sheriff Haith tracks down those responsible for the sinking of The White Ship in the English…
Madrid Research
Selected compilation of research process for Microhabitable project: Matadero Madrid – Artists Residency Centre; my studio in Matadero; Palacio de Cristal de Arganzuela; water drops in the tropical zone in Palacio de Cristal de Arganzuela; Jose Manuel Naredo biosphere cycle; Manzanares River; bookshelf; Hieronymus Bosch, The Garden of Earthly Delights, exterior panels, Prado; Leticia Felgueroso,…
Constant Gardening
Last day of my residency at Matadero Madrid. I’ve been following my nose through a research process for the Microhabitable project, working towards writing future fiction. The Microhabitable project is a study programme co-organised by Matadero, Inland CAR and Serpentine Galleries General Ecology programme. It considers issues of scale – macro and micro – in…
Writing on performance art workshop
Gresol Art in Girona and La Bonne in Barcelona are collaborating to present a new performance and performance art workshop by Esther Ferrer as part of Intangible Environments. The performance is on 26 October 2019 at La Bonne. The workshop takes place 27-31 October 2019. I am contributing a session on writing about performance. I last engaged…
The Anarchy
History offers so many fascinating true stories for a historical novelist to wind in with the fiction. I have just completed revisions to the manuscript of my final novel in the Conquest series on the life of the 12th century Welsh princess, Nest ferch Rhys. Some of the true bits in the new novel, The Anarchy, include…
Big small things
I have arrived in Madrid to work for a month in the art and ecology Microhabitable project, focused on issues of scale. My residency is hosted by Matadero Madrid who are co-organising Microhabitable with INLAND and the Serpentine Galleries. I’m interested in entanglement and in the macrocosmic cycles of water and life and decomposition, which…
