Pilgrimage is a connecting line on many levels, joining places in a narrative that embraces periods of time and a huge assembly of disparate people. It sits in my imagination at this late stage of the journey like a pack of cards, a multi-coloured unit that can be constantly shuffled and dealt out in different patterns, as I mull over all the sights, voices and echoing sounds of the past and present that have filled my thoughts, waking and sleeping, for so many months. From staccato bursts, my progress has become rhythmic, like the energy of the tidal estuary before my eyes. The grey expanse will soon be filled by the surge of the sea, all will be the same and yet completely transformed. An emptiness will be filled by the eternal flow.
Extract from ' The Unquiet Path '
HERE & NOW
June 2025
2nd Giving writing workshop at L’Autre Rive, 2pm
Writing new material for my substack
Explorations of new places
I’ve been writing about Brittany for more than twenty years, with a focus on history, legends and spirit of place. My research has taken me to every corner of the region, especially for recent works of place-writing on ancient paths and the stories connected with megalithic and natural stones. I am interested in the relationship between places and their past, including the cultural presentation of this connection, and human reactions to the particularity of place. Why do some sites generate more interest than others? How do certain stories attach to specific places? What constitutes the spiritual appeal associated with sacred space? Megalithic memorials, Druidic lore, saintly powers, pilgrimage trails and popular perception are just some of the ingredients in my exploration of the early history of Brittany through its landscape.
RECENT NOVELS
Set in a Breton village
