The books, music, poems and ideas that are keeping our authors company this summer.
One of the nicest parts of working in publishing is that you spend a lot of time talking about books, and one of the even nicer ones, is getting to know the people who write them. This summer, we decided to do something a little different with the Wild Goose Publications newsletter. Instead of writing it ourselves each week, we’ve handed a corner of it over to some of our authors, asking them six simple questions about the books, music, poems and ideas that are keeping them company this summer.
The answers have been wonderfully surprising. David Osborne has been reading Graham Robb and singing words by Desmond Tutu set to music by John Bell.
Margaret Elphinstone has been immersed in Rebecca Solnit, woodland walks and the conviction that, despite everything, “we do somehow belong to life.”
Ruth Burgess has reminded us that hope sometimes looks like the flowers on runner beans promising a good harvest.
Thom Shuman has been watching a rabbit hold a staring contest with his ginger cat and finding grace in fireflies at dusk.
Alison Phipps has spoken about poetry strong enough to hold us, and about teachers who continue to show up every week for people seeking sanctuary.
Richard Skinner has wandered happily between William Boyd, Schubert, David Bowie and the return of pine martens and beavers.
Emma Major has rediscovered the gift of quiet hours in the middle of the night, where prayer and creativity often arrive together.
Joy Mead reminds us that hope is not something we possess but “a way of life”, embodied in birds, trees, shared bread, creativity and people who choose to resist despair.
Janet Killeen finds herself returning to Dickens, Madeleine L’Engle and Chloe Dalton’s Raising Hare, while still hearing Mozart, Blake and childhood hymns echoing through her days.
Chris Polhill has been re-reading St Paul with fresh eyes, gardening his way through difficult times and returning, once again, to George MacLeod.
Rosemary Power is reading Rachel Carson, the Book of Ruth and poetry by R. S. Thomas, while continuing to find hope in people, waves, trees and a five-year-old great-niece who writes letters from Australia.
And then there was John Bell, who dislikes doing personal profiles, but then came through with some wise and wonderful answers, recommending Richard Powers, Benjamin Britten and Paul McCartney, before sharing a memorable piece of advice from his former colleague Jo Love:
“Hope (unlike medication) is a verb, not just a noun.”
Looking across all these conversations, something unexpected began to emerge. Not simply a list of books to read, but a lovely portrait of our authors, and of course this is just a small snapshot; we have many, many more still to feature.
Together they form a community shaped by poetry and protest, music and liturgy, gardening and grandchildren, hospitality and justice, scholarship and storytelling. A community that continues to notice beauty, wrestle honestly with the world as it is, and insist, in a myriad of different ways, that hope remains an active practice.
We’ll be continuing our Summer Bookshelf series over the coming weeks, and we’d love you to join us. Who knows? You may even discover your next favourite book, poem or song along the way. And we’d love to hear from you. What are you reading this summer? What poem, prayer or song has stayed with you? What’s bringing you hope at the moment?
Join the conversation by subscribing to the Wild Goose Publications newsletter.
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