I wrote a piece for the Byline Times Supplement describing a visit to Foulness Island

You can read the article here*  and get a taste of what it feels like to arrive on this extraordinary island.

*[https://www.bylinesupplement.com/p/walking-britains-deadliest-footpath] 

We've passed 50% of our total! Thank you to all the new arrivals to Foulness!

Thank you also to our supporters who've been with us on the journey thus far.

Now, we want to introduce you all to Megan and G.F Smith papers.

G.F Smith were paper merchants to Virginia Woolf, and they've kept up their tradition of visiting studios, no matter how small. Megan, our sales rep, likes to…

We are launching a proof version of the Foulness paperback to be available months ahead of publication (with 1st edition paperback + uncorrected proof or handmade bundle)     

Some authors have the skills to design their own books, but the opportunity to experiment freely with how their words appear on the page is much rarer. What I'm doing with Unbound has become another form of expression; an…

Opening a Clam

I've never had a piece published in a journal before, so I was taken aback when the celebrated Exacting Clam accepted 7000 words from Foulness for the opening of their 4th issue! 

This may be of particular interest to people who've read the extract on this Unbound project page, as It's a different version of the same opening chapter.  

We recently launched a new tier that includes the paperback novel and 10 postcards of bird illustrations from the book. 

This video shows the first painting being made: the Black-tailed Godwit. The painting is also available for sale in the top tier.

For £300 patrons receive:

1. Original Gouache painting
2. Handmade Artist's Book
3. Slipcase
4. Uncorrected Proof

Any existing subscribers…

We are delighted to announce three new Foulness rewards have become available HERE on Unbound.  Available both as new pledges or upgrades.

1. £30 - Kittiwake (plus): first edition paperback, and a bonus book of 10 colour postcards reproducing bird paintings by David Henningham. These will be appearing gradually on social media as I do them. You can see three preparatory sketches…

On Christmas Eve I received an email from Arts Council England...

Thinking surely they'd only send good news on 24th December, I quickly logged onto the system to find we had indeed been awarded a substantial grant towards making the handmade editions of Foulness! It's a terrific endorsement. But how does a grant effect the ongoing crowdfunding campaign?  

Put simply, the grant means all…

There are some crazy structures on Foulness Island.

This reading takes our narrator, James, into one of these experimental buildings, a tunnel designed to test the effects of extreme heat upon vehicles. He is brought there by Dr Jaager, an enigmatic researcher from Estonia who seems to take a keen interest in James. This extract is from the final stop on an impromptu tour of the Smallgains…

We continue our series of extracts (or spoilers, depending on your preferences!)   

Essex has always been a place for experiments.

Architecture (Modernist), Bata (shoes), Chicken coops (as housing) or maybe C should be for Communism, Degenerates, Esthetes, Farming (intensive and organic), Faith. T is for Temperance, Tractarian societies, Tasmania... 

The video extract below introduces…

Let's take a tour of the book, starting with Kittiwake and the poetry that begins several of the chapters.

I've long been interested in the idea of poetry being embedded in novels. A way of setting the tone, or marking the passage of time. There are so many possibilites. This video, including a snippet from my Phoenix FM interview, expands on this process with Kittiwake as an example.

I…

Thank you so much for your support for Foulness earlier in the year. We are returning now from our summer break and looking forward to resuming our fundraising efforts. Entering the season the story takes place in feels like a good omen!

Personal Recommendations

To reach our target we will need to find 350 subscribers. About 150 of these probably need to be people without prior knowledge…

Readings and Radio Appearances Promoting Foulness

The campaign to publish Foulness has continued steadily. Like a pirate radio station broadcasting from an isolated sandbank, I have appeared online to read from the book.

1. The next appearance will be on Phoenix FM Monday 21st June, 1.15pm, when we will be discussing why Foulness Island is so fascinating, and the realtionship between fact…

The First Milestone

I'm excited to have reached the first 10% of our target within the first week. This bodes well for achieving the total within the next 6 months. Thank you all for your support!

Oystercatchers 

If you have pledged for the photo book in a slipcase, you will get to choose one from the table below. The novel is split into 12 chapters, each one named after a bird found…