Earth Writings: Bogs, Fields, Forests, Gardens (2020) received the Geographical Society of Ireland Book of the Year Award at the 53rd annual Conference of Irish Geographers held in Limerick in May 2022. The book, which focuses on community-engaged arts and geography practices in Ireland, was supported by the Maynooth University Department of Geography Research Incentive Fund, Kildare County Council, and Creative Ireland .
Edited by Karen E. Till Professor of Cultural Geography at Maynooth University, the volume was designed by Pure Designs and features writings by artists, curators, and academics: Patrick Bresnihan, Nessa Cronin, Monica de Bath, Cathy Fitzgerald, Gerry Kearns, Pauline O’Connell, Seoidín O’Sullivan, Lucina Russell, and Karen Till.
The award was in the edited collection category and decided by an international awards committee. The criteria for consideration were that the works: had been published for the first time (in Irish or English) between 1st January 2018 and 31st December 2021; were of clear relevance to a theme related to the geographies of Ireland and/or were authored by a geographer employed in Ireland at the time of publication; and were comprised substantially of previously unpublished work.
Cathy, an Irish-based New Zealander of Irish descent, talks to Nessa about her early career in research science, her move to Ireland in the mid-1990s, her work with the Irish tree NGO Crann and Pro Silva Ireland and the development of her ongoing eco-social art practice The Hollywood Forest Story – the ecoart and practical tale of transforming a tree plantation into a permanent forest. Hollywood forest, in South Co. Carlow, is ‘the story of the little wood that could’ 🙂
See more at https://earthwritings.ie/
The Hollywood Forest Story : An EcoSocial Art Practice | Co. Carlow Ireland 