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Explore Essays and memoir

Cows

Adam Nicolson

‘All in it together but not in it together at all.’

On Coyotes

Diane Cook

‘There is something about the presence of coyotes that makes any place feel wilder than it is.’

Rocky Raccoon

DBC Pierre

‘The mask said everything. This was a thief. A schemer and a thief.’

A Prize

Christine Schutt

‘He picked our little sister’s laces loose and made her cry.’

A Moveable Beast

Helge Skodvin & Ned Beauman

‘Taxidermy offers animals both a second life and a second harassment by the Anthropocene.’ Ned Beauman introduces the photography of Helge Skodvin.

Tyger, Tyger

Aman Sethi

‘A man-eating tiger was on the prowl when I arrived in Pilibhit one rainy evening in September.’

Dog

Nadeem Aslam

‘More than once the new dog was aggressive, a stab of fire, but I did not tell the grown-ups. I feared they would take him away.’

Speedy

Evie Wyld

‘Speedy wanted to swallow the world.’

Winterkill

Cal Flyn

‘Wildlife foundations find themselves calling for the deaths of tens of thousands of wild animals.’

Swifts

Adam Foulds

‘Swifts come closer than any other creature to living in the sky and having air and ceaseless movement as their home.’

Animal Studies

Elliot Ross & Alexander MacLeod

‘The title of this series of photographs is Animal Studies, but I am not sure about that second word. A noun or a verb? A thing or an action? Are these studies of animals or are these animals studying?’ Alexander MacLeod introduces the photography of Elliot Ross.

The Farmer’s Son

John Connell

‘I’m twenty-nine and I’ve never delivered a calf myself. But that’s all about to change’

The Falconer and the Hawks

Ben Crane

‘A fine balance of precision and coiled unsparing instinct, all contained within a gossamer skein of feather, skin, muscle and bone.’

Magpie

Esther Woolfson

‘His life was one of calculation and endeavour, of learning and watching, remembering and trying.’