Writing Wild Issue 3
Words from the Wild Women Writers' Salons
The Wild Women Writers’ Salons kicked off 2024 with guest authors Lily Dunn, Rebecca Fogg and Lily Dunn. What a wonderful evening of conversation, reflection and insight. A deep thanks to Lily, Rebecca and Liz for sharing their words and insights - both into being writers but also into what it means to write and reclaim our voices out of a place of trauma. Thank you also to everyone who joined us for the evening and for holding this space so generously and respectfully.
If you missed it and want to watch the event recording, remember to upgrade to a paid subscription for access to all recordings and more!
Keep reading to find out what’s coming in Salon 4 (please note Salon 4 is a daytime salon 1 - 2.30pm GMT)
For those wanting to explore some of the themes raised, here are a couple of extra resources from the authors, signposted by Rebecca, Liz and Lily.
Surviving and thriving after life’s most difficult moments - an excerpt from the chapter about the psychological impacts of trauma
A Word On Words: Beautiful Trauma - A 12-minute interview with Rebecca Fogg which covers a lot of ground on the experience that inspired her to write the book
The Jar of Joy - TEDx talk with Liz O’Riordan on insights from being on the other side of the table and how to collect those little moments of joy
So Now I’ve Got Breast Cancer - Liz’s podcast
Abandoned by a Narcissistic Father - interview with Dr Ramani for the Navigating Narcissism podcast
Coming February 29th! A Leap Salon!
Wild Women Writers’ Salon 4
A Wild and Necessary Silence: pilgrimage, hermitage and the creativity of solitude
Thursday 29th February at 1 - 2.30 pm GMT
Join us for Salon 4 to take a deep dive into the creativity of solitude from pilgrimage to hermitage, with authors Gail Simmons (Between the Chalk and the Sea: a journey on foot into the past), Jade Angeles Fitton (Hermit: a memoir of finding freedom in a wild place ) and Phoebe Smith (Wayfarer: Love, loss and life on Britain’s ancient paths)
Introducing our Salon Guests — Gail Simmons, Jade Angeles Fitton & Phoebe Smith
Gail Simmons
After a peripatetic army childhood, Gail Simmons settled with her family in a Chiltern village. Like most eighteen-year-olds, she couldn’t wait to leave home and spread her wings. Decades later – having worked in a Cumbrian castle, listed historic buildings in Warwickshire, led walking groups in Italy and the Middle East, and written for national newspapers – she returned to rediscover the landscape of her youth.
Gail holds an MA in medieval history and a PhD in creative writing and teaches travel writing at Bath Spa and Cambridge universities.
Between the Chalk and the Sea: a journey on foot into the past
When Henry VIII banned pilgrimage in 1538, he ended not only a centuries-old tradition of walking as an act of faith but also a valuable chance to discover the joy of walking as an escape from the burdens of everyday life.
Much was lost when these journeys faded from our collective memory, but clues to our past remain. On an antique map in Oxford’s Bodleian Library, a faint red line threading through towns and villages between Southampton and Canterbury suggests a significant, though long-forgotten, road. Renamed the Old Way, medieval pilgrims are thought to have travelled this route to reach the celebrated shrine of Thomas Becket.
Described as England’s Camino, this long-distance footpath carves through one of the nation’s most iconic landscapes – one that links prehistoric earthworks, abandoned monasteries, Saxon churches, ruined castles and historic seaports.
Over four seasons, travel writer Gail Simmons walks the Old Way to rediscover what a long journey on foot offers us today. In the age of the car, what does it mean to embrace ‘slow travel’? Why does being a woman walking alone still feel like a radical act? In an age when walking connects the nation, can we now reclaim pilgrimage as a secular act?
Winding 240 miles between the chalk hills and shifting seascapes of the south coast, Gail ventures deep into our past, exploring this lost path and telling a story of kings and knights, peasants and pilgrims, of ancient folklore and modern politics. Blending history, anthropology, etymology and geology, Gail’s walk along the Old Way reveals the rich natural and cultural heritage found on our own doorstep.
An old map. A lost pilgrimage route. A journey in search of our walking heritage.
‘I loved this memoir - centuries of stories captured in the chalk, all told through the prism of one life’ - RAYNOR WINN, author of THE SALT PATH
Jade Angeles Fitton
Jade is a writer, journalist, and award-winning producer. Her work has appeared in the likes of the Guardian, Independent, Vogue, Times Literary Supplement, New Statesman, Literary Review and the BBC. Her poetry has been published in a number of magazines including The Moth.
Hermit: a memoir of finding freedom in a wild place
When Jade's partner leaves the barn that they moved into just weeks before, he leaves a dent in the wall, and her life unravels. Numbed from years in a destructive, abusive relationship, she faces an uncertain future and complete solitude. Slowly, with the help of Devon's salted cliffs and damp forested footpaths, Jade comes back to life and discovers the power of being alone.
As Jade reacclimatizes, she considers what it means to live alone. Through conversations with other hermits across the world, Fitton sheds light on the myriad - and often misunderstood - ways of living alone, from monks to hikikomori and the largely ignored female hermit. Jade questions whether hermitic living is possible in an era of constant communication and increased housing costs as she finds herself financially unstable and itinerant. She realises that home doesn't exist within walls but within the landscape of her childhood home county.
Lyrically written, this is an inspirational story of recovery, finding a home, and celebrating solitude in the natural world.
‘A dreamy, beautiful book about the consolations of solitude ’ — CAL FLYN, author of ISLANDS OF ABANDONMENT
Phoebe Smith
Phoebe Smith is an award-winning adventurer, presenter, broadcaster, author, photographer, and speaker. She hosts the Wander Woman Podcast and is the Sleep Storyteller-in-Residence at Calm.com. She is the author of 10 books, including the bestselling Extreme Sleeps and has worked with a range of clients from the BBC to ITV, Radio 4, the Guardian, Ordnance Survey, Duke of Edinburgh Awards, Rolls Royce, Lowe Alpine and Berghaus.
Wayfarer: Love, loss and life on Britain’s ancient paths
A woman’s tale of the transformative power of walking Britain’s ancient pilgrim paths
On an assignment to walk the most famous pilgrimage in the world – the Camino de Santiago, in northern Spain – Phoebe Smith somehow lost her way.
Having spent a lifetime exploring unfamiliar places, she quit her dream job, ended her long-term relationship and headed home to North Wales to discover the point to… everything.
In her search for answers, she found herself – quite by accident – walking some of Britain’s oldest pilgrim paths. And by following these old ways, she ended up confronting past traumas that she thought she had laid to rest.
But while it follows holy trails, this is not a book about religion. From losing her mother as a teenager to surviving toxic relationships, Phoebe offers an unflinchingly honest look at her battle with an eating disorder, depression, and the pitfalls of newfound singledom.
Skilfully weaving together Phoebe’s own story with those of countless travellers past and present, Wayfarer reveals how nature and place can heal past wounds, offering a pathway to salvation she’d never thought existed.
‘Raw, honest, powerful. I couldn't put it down.’ Cerys Matthews
Introducing the salon host…
Victoria Bennett is an award-winning disabled poet, author, carer and founder of Wild Women Press. Her debut memoir, All My Wild Mothers: motherhood, loss and an apothecary garden, was long-listed for the Nan Shepherd Prize and won the New Writing North Northern Debut Award.
All My Wild Mothers: motherhood, loss and an apothecary garden
At seven months pregnant, Victoria Bennett learns her sister has died in a canoeing accident. At that moment, her life is changed.
Five years later, and struggling with the demands of motherhood, grief and full-time care, Victoria and her family move to a new social housing estate in rural Cumbria. Here, in the rubble of a former industrial site, she and her young son begin to grow a wild apothecary garden: daisy, for resilience; dandelion, for strength against adversity; sow thistle, to lift melancholy; and borage, to bring hope in dark and difficult times.
Stone by stone, seed by seed, they discover that sometimes life grows, not in spite of what is broken, but because of it.
All My Wild Mothers is an intimate memoir of motherhood, a handbook on survival and a testimony to radical hope. Paperback out 1st February 2024.
‘A beautifully written and wisely laid out memoir . . . a treasure map back to 'living', for those who have been away too long…’ — DONNA ASHWORTH, author of WILD HOPE
What are the Wild Women Writers’ Salons?
The Wild Women Writers’ Salons will run on the last Thursday of every month (except December), with a mix of day and evening events all the way until November 2024. The programme is focused on memoir and creative nonfiction - and what a fantastic line-up of wild women writers we have for you!
With a treasure chest of amazing writers from across the globe, these are different from your regular Zoom sessions. Together, we're creating a welcoming and inspiring space for authors of memoirs and creative nonfiction to gather and engage in meaningful conversation and reflection on their writing journeys.
Each salon will feature three (and sometimes four!) fantastic guest writers from across the globe. Here’s a sneak peek of what you can expect:
Dive deep into the world of words.
Hear authors share their works.
Get a behind-the-scenes look at the creative process.
Real talk about publishing highs and lows.
Engage in some heart-to-heart during the Q&A session.
Remember, ticket sales & subscriptions help value and pay the amazing people making these salons possible - from behind the scenes to the fabulous authors!
We will continue giving you advance notice of our salons throughout the year through the free newsletter, but if you’d also like to receive access to more behind-the-scenes conversations with our guest authors, event recordings, writing prompts, opportunities and more, please consider upgrading to a paid subscription. Paid subscriptions are really appreciated and support the behind-scenes work of the salons.
Thank you for being here. Keep writing wild!
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