Description
When did we stop trusting the dark?
From twilight skies and nocturnal wildlife to insomnia, night work and the shifting cultural meanings of darkness, three writers explore what happens after the sun goes down.
Jean Sprackland turns to moths, bats and birds, asking what is lost as artificial light erases true darkness and reshapes our relationship with attention and perception. Sally Coulthard uncovers the folklore and ecological rhythms of dawn and dusk, those fragile thresholds where landscape, wildlife and human imagination subtly transform. Dan Richards, author of Overnight: Journeys, Conversations and Stories After Dark, brings the human world of night shifts, sleepless hours and journeys made after dark.
Blending nature writing, memoir and cultural reflection, this conversation asks what it might mean to protect and reconnect with the dark in an increasingly illuminated world.
About the Authors
Dan Richards
Dan Richards is a Sunday Times bestselling author and broadcaster. His books include Holloway, co-authored with Robert Macfarlane and Stanley Donwood, Climbing Days, Outpost and Overnight: Journeys, Conversations and Stories After Dark. His acclaimed BBC Radio 4 series, Only After Dark, first aired in 2022. He has written for publications including The Guardian, The Observer and The New York Times.
Jean Sprackland
Jean Sprackland is a poet, writer and Professor of Creative Writing at Manchester Metropolitan University. Sprackland won the Costa Poetry Award in 2008, and the Portico Prize for Non-Fiction in 2012. Sprackland’s latest books include Night Vision: In Search of the True Dark, and a new poetry collection, Goyle, Chert, Mire.
Sally Coulthard
Sally Coulthard is a bestselling author and columnist writing about nature, history, craft and rural life. An Oxford graduate in Archaeology and Anthropology, Coulthard is the author of more than 30 non-fiction books, translated into over a dozen languages. With work exploring themes of farming, folklore, architecture, archaeology and biodiversity, Coulthard is also a regular columnist for Country Living and Yorkshire Life magazines.
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