4.9 Hannah Bourne-Taylor: What the Fledgling Taught Me
Welcome to series 4, episode 9 of the Prompted by Nature podcast.
Today's action point: Visit Hannah's website to find information and resources for connecting and protecting nature on your doorstep: www.hannahbournetaylor.com/resources
Today I speak with writer and nature advocate, Hannah Bourne-Taylor. After careers in both equine photography and copy-writing in the branding industry, Hannah moved from London to Ghana in 2013 where she lived for eight years. She has ghost-written and edited best-selling books and FLEDGLING, her debut memoir, is a celebration of the wild and is being published by Aurum in April 2022.
For context, before the main conversation Hannah had been telling me about the swallows she was trying to help after soffits were created during their migration south meaning that they couldn’t get back into their nesting spot. Hannah heard about this on social media and got to work trying to help the birds. I also told her about the Benfield Valley Project. An update of the swifts situation is that since our chat, the landlord of the property involved has agreed to put up nesting boxes on the house that is their home. I mention these points as we refer back to them in the conversation.
In this episode we discuss:
Her passion for looking after the individual What the finch and birds in general have taught her The finch as representative of ‘voices of the wild’ How her experience as a ghost writer and photographer influenced her ability to tell the finch’s story The parallels between Hannah’s experience of caring for a finch and my own experience of early motherhood The importance of feeling empowered to help with even the ‘smallest’ things The place her upbringing played in how she encounters nature The process of ‘looking to see’ The importance of enthusiasm in adulthood The emotional aspect of writing the book Hannah’s experience opening up about her anxiety and OCD The importance of not losing hope
Recommended previous episodes to accompany this one: Lucy Jones 1.9, Lorraine Tindale 2.3, Anita Bagdi 2.11, Lucy Groves 2.12, plus Sophie’s episode last week 4.8.
Find Hannah on her website www.hannahbournetaylor.com and @hannahbt on twitter or @writerhannahbt on instagram. Fledgling is out now and is published by Bloomsbury. I now have a shop over on bookshop.org, where I’ll get a little kick-back on anything you purchase through it. This will help me to fund future episodes of the podcast. The link is on my website www.promptedbynature.co.uk, where you can find all episodes and upcoming course dates, or you can go directly to bookshop.org and search for ‘Prompted by Nature.’
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For this prompt, you are invited to ‘look to see,’ something Hannah speak about in the episode. I talk you through some ideas for what to do on a walk to you local green space or favourite natural spot, such as breathing and allowing your breath to bring you back into the present and looking at what’s around you with the aiming of ‘seeing.’
Some recommended guided meditations from previous writing prompts:
Episode 1.10b - Searching for Magic in the Landscape (my prompt for my conversation with Jini Reddy)
Episode 2.5b - Quiet Enough for Nature (my prompt for my conversation with Nick Hayes)
Enjoy and let me know how you get on if you use this one!
Happy creating!
Helen x
