Robert Macfarlane Is a River Alive?

In a special Festival event, we welcome the celebrated nature writer, academic and performer as he asks a perspective-shifting question: is a river alive?

He’ll explain the transformative idea that rivers are not mere matter for human use, but precious living things that should be recognised as such in both imagination and law. He’ll take us on a mind-expanding global journey into the history, futures, people and places of this ancient, urgent concept. He’ll also talk about how, around the world, rivers are dying from pollution, drought and damming, but that a powerful movement is also underway to recognise the lives and rights of rivers – and to re-animate our relationships with these vast, mysterious presences and landscapes we share.

Robert Macfarlane is best known for his books on landscape, nature, place, people and language, which include The Old Ways (2012), Landmarks (2015), The Lost Words with Jackie Morris (2017), and Underland (2019).

In conversation with Fiona Lindsay.

This event is in partnership with the River Hope Project
River Hope is an emerging grassroots movement focused on the catchments of the rivers Avon, Stour and Arrow and their tributaries that flow through Stratford-on-Avon District and South Warwickshire. Through creativity, ceremony and practical action, it weaves love, memory and stewardship to better protect and restore local water bodies and all their biodiversity.