Where the Seals Sing

Praise for Susan Richardson

‘Cut and precise, archaic and innovative, transcendent and in-the-moment, [Susan Richardson] sees the life of the sea as a mirror of ourselves, and vice versa: always changing, always the same … Vital, glorious and salutary ’ Philip Hoare, author of Leviathan

‘[Richardson] writes in prehensile language, capable of grasping something vast, ancient, chthonic: the Earth in must. Jay Griffiths, author of Wild

‘[Richardson] shows how art and writing can furnish both beautiful and challenging reflections on our relationship with animals … Precise and playful; rhapsodic and rebellious’ Andy Brown

‘Sparkling’ Margaret Elphinstone

‘Richardson’s voice swoops – passionate, ribald, funny, fierce – taking you up, on exhilarating flight, out from the cage of the everyday mind.’ Eleanor O’Hanlon, author of Eyes of the Wild

‘[Richardson] balances observation with “unseeing”, science with shamanism and myth’ Chris Kinsey

‘Susan Richardson beautifully marries the landscape of the polar regions with their – and her own – emotional topography.’ Sara Wheeler

At the age of six, when asked the usual question about what she wanted to be when she grew up, Susan Richardson replied, ‘I want to travel round the world and write about animals.’ She is the author of four collections of poetry, the most recent of which, Words the Turtle Taught Me, themed around endangered ocean species, emerged from her residency with the Marine Conservation Society and was shortlisted for the Ted Hughes Award. In addition to her ongoing writing residency with the British Animal Studies Network, facilitated by the University of Strathclyde, she has shared her work on BBC Two and Radio 3, and enjoyed a four-year stint as one of the poet-performers on Radio 4’s Saturday Live.