Robert Macfarlane
@robgmacfarlane.bsky.social
Books: Is A River Alive? (May ‘25), Underland, The Lost Words, The Old Ways etc | Films: River, Mountain, Upstream | Music: The Moon Also Rises, Lost In The Cedar Wood, etc
Nature, climate, people.
Prof at Cambridge.
https://linktr.ee/robmacfarlane
Nature, climate, people.
Prof at Cambridge.
https://linktr.ee/robmacfarlane
Pinned
Is A River Alive? is published today, 1 May.
It’s about the lives, deaths & rights of rivers—& how our fate flows with that of water & always has.
To the people, places & rivers whose ideas run through its pages, thank you so much.
I think it’s the book I’ve been learning to write all these years.
It’s about the lives, deaths & rights of rivers—& how our fate flows with that of water & always has.
To the people, places & rivers whose ideas run through its pages, thank you so much.
I think it’s the book I’ve been learning to write all these years.
Reposted by Robert Macfarlane
Join us next week as we discuss the fascinating book Is a River Alive? by @robgmacfarlane.bsky.social. How did a river in India get erased? How do cloud forests carry rivers in the earth, land and sky? What does it mean to be enrivered?
www.kpu.ca/library/book...
@kwantlenu.bsky.social #wildspaces
www.kpu.ca/library/book...
@kwantlenu.bsky.social #wildspaces
November 7, 2025 at 6:00 PM
Join us next week as we discuss the fascinating book Is a River Alive? by @robgmacfarlane.bsky.social. How did a river in India get erased? How do cloud forests carry rivers in the earth, land and sky? What does it mean to be enrivered?
www.kpu.ca/library/book...
@kwantlenu.bsky.social #wildspaces
www.kpu.ca/library/book...
@kwantlenu.bsky.social #wildspaces
Reposted by Robert Macfarlane
If you’re searching for an env. book club & reading community, join us this Saturday for part II of our climate conversations series
Bring a friend or share with your network to anyone who may find this of interest 🌎💚
We will be discussing the book Is A River Alive? by @robgmacfarlane.bsky.social
Bring a friend or share with your network to anyone who may find this of interest 🌎💚
We will be discussing the book Is A River Alive? by @robgmacfarlane.bsky.social
October 29, 2025 at 1:21 AM
If you’re searching for an env. book club & reading community, join us this Saturday for part II of our climate conversations series
Bring a friend or share with your network to anyone who may find this of interest 🌎💚
We will be discussing the book Is A River Alive? by @robgmacfarlane.bsky.social
Bring a friend or share with your network to anyone who may find this of interest 🌎💚
We will be discussing the book Is A River Alive? by @robgmacfarlane.bsky.social
International eyes needed on Ecuador rn, where an organised assault on constitutional integrity, land- & water-defenders, the rights of nature & Indigenous rights is currently in full swing, as directed by the newly elected president Noboa.
Excellent piece here:
www.theguardian.com/world/2025/o...
Excellent piece here:
www.theguardian.com/world/2025/o...
Indigenous and environmental leaders in Ecuador say they are facing state intimidation
Critics say referendum on rewriting country’s eco-friendly constitution is president’s latest pro-extractivist move
www.theguardian.com
October 16, 2025 at 10:07 PM
International eyes needed on Ecuador rn, where an organised assault on constitutional integrity, land- & water-defenders, the rights of nature & Indigenous rights is currently in full swing, as directed by the newly elected president Noboa.
Excellent piece here:
www.theguardian.com/world/2025/o...
Excellent piece here:
www.theguardian.com/world/2025/o...
Reposted by Robert Macfarlane
River abstraction has soared 76% over two decades, threatening rivers, ecosystems and future supply. Water companies fall back on extracting more from already stressed rivers 4/4
www.theguardian.com/environment/...
www.theguardian.com/environment/...
England’s rivers ‘under threat’ as water extraction surges to record levels
Exclusive: Investigation finds 76% rise in water taken from rivers and lakes for industrial or public consumption in two decades
www.theguardian.com
September 26, 2025 at 9:54 AM
River abstraction has soared 76% over two decades, threatening rivers, ecosystems and future supply. Water companies fall back on extracting more from already stressed rivers 4/4
www.theguardian.com/environment/...
www.theguardian.com/environment/...
Hello—I’m hanging up my boots here on BlueSky for the summer.
Come find/follow me on Instagram instead, perhaps, where I’m @robgmacfarlane.
👇👇👇
Come find/follow me on Instagram instead, perhaps, where I’m @robgmacfarlane.
👇👇👇
June 26, 2025 at 2:36 PM
Hello—I’m hanging up my boots here on BlueSky for the summer.
Come find/follow me on Instagram instead, perhaps, where I’m @robgmacfarlane.
👇👇👇
Come find/follow me on Instagram instead, perhaps, where I’m @robgmacfarlane.
👇👇👇
Reposted by Robert Macfarlane
Is a river alive?
Nobel prize contender and celebrated author Robert Macfarlane explores this question with @racheldonald.bsky.social on the latest @mongabay.com podcast here:
Nobel prize contender and celebrated author Robert Macfarlane explores this question with @racheldonald.bsky.social on the latest @mongabay.com podcast here:
Some rivers have rights, but author Robert Macfarlane argues they’re also alive
This week on Mongabay’s podcast, celebrated author and repeat Nobel Prize in Literature candidate Robert Macfarlane discusses his fascinating new book, Is a River Alive?, which both asks and provides ...
news.mongabay.com
June 24, 2025 at 9:52 PM
Is a river alive?
Nobel prize contender and celebrated author Robert Macfarlane explores this question with @racheldonald.bsky.social on the latest @mongabay.com podcast here:
Nobel prize contender and celebrated author Robert Macfarlane explores this question with @racheldonald.bsky.social on the latest @mongabay.com podcast here:
Reposted by Robert Macfarlane
Written by Saleh, a 17-year-old poet from Gaza, ‘When the Sea became a Wall’ is the first in a series of letterpress prints facilitated by writers Alice Oswald, Zaffar Kunial, Max Porter & @robgmacfarlane.bsky.social www.caughtbytheriver.net/2025/06/when...
June 18, 2025 at 3:53 PM
Written by Saleh, a 17-year-old poet from Gaza, ‘When the Sea became a Wall’ is the first in a series of letterpress prints facilitated by writers Alice Oswald, Zaffar Kunial, Max Porter & @robgmacfarlane.bsky.social www.caughtbytheriver.net/2025/06/when...
Reposted by Robert Macfarlane
The plunder of our seas by industrial fishing is a monstrosity in which almost everyone unwittingly collaborates. For decades this truth has been deliberately hidden from us. Now at last the consensus is cracking.
This week's column.
www.theguardian.com/commentisfre...
This week's column.
www.theguardian.com/commentisfre...
Attenborough’s Ocean is the film I’ve been waiting my whole career for – now the world must act on its message | George Monbiot
The documentary shows the damage that fishing does to our planet. So why does the industry still hold governments to ransom? asks Guardian columnist George Monbiot
www.theguardian.com
June 13, 2025 at 9:24 AM
The plunder of our seas by industrial fishing is a monstrosity in which almost everyone unwittingly collaborates. For decades this truth has been deliberately hidden from us. Now at last the consensus is cracking.
This week's column.
www.theguardian.com/commentisfre...
This week's column.
www.theguardian.com/commentisfre...
Reposted by Robert Macfarlane
It is 100% carrying water for the opposition to participate in this collective delusion that Dems for some reason need to answer for every teen who throws a rock rather than hold the Trump admin accountable for intentionally creating chaos and breaking the law to stoke violence.
They are in charge.
They are in charge.
June 11, 2025 at 12:44 AM
It is 100% carrying water for the opposition to participate in this collective delusion that Dems for some reason need to answer for every teen who throws a rock rather than hold the Trump admin accountable for intentionally creating chaos and breaking the law to stoke violence.
They are in charge.
They are in charge.
Reposted by Robert Macfarlane
"Perhaps I will write—not to immortalize the pain, but to say that we were here… loving, dreaming, planting, drawing, singing, reading, writing… before our lives were reduced to a passing news bulletin or a cold political statement."
Palestinian writer Omar Hamad bears witness to genocide in his home of Gaza.
Omar Hamad in Gaza: “I once wrote with ink, today I write with ashes.”
Omar Hamad is a Palestinian writer and pharmacist bearing witness to genocide in his home of Gaza. He writes about stolen love, safety and peace, and the reality of life on the ground. * I walk bar…
buff.ly
June 9, 2025 at 6:03 PM
"Perhaps I will write—not to immortalize the pain, but to say that we were here… loving, dreaming, planting, drawing, singing, reading, writing… before our lives were reduced to a passing news bulletin or a cold political statement."
Reposted by Robert Macfarlane
The USGS ecosystems research program doesn't just study wildlife. Its researchers work on rangelands and forests, fisheries and aquaculture, and critically, wildfire.
Trump's proposed budget eliminates this program entirely, allocating $0 for 2026.
www.nytimes.com/2025/05/31/c...
Trump's proposed budget eliminates this program entirely, allocating $0 for 2026.
www.nytimes.com/2025/05/31/c...
Trump’s Proposed Budget Would Cut a Major Ecology Program
www.nytimes.com
June 2, 2025 at 7:38 PM
The USGS ecosystems research program doesn't just study wildlife. Its researchers work on rangelands and forests, fisheries and aquaculture, and critically, wildfire.
Trump's proposed budget eliminates this program entirely, allocating $0 for 2026.
www.nytimes.com/2025/05/31/c...
Trump's proposed budget eliminates this program entirely, allocating $0 for 2026.
www.nytimes.com/2025/05/31/c...
G, by Zaffar Kunial
May 26, 2025 at 12:08 PM
G, by Zaffar Kunial
Reposted by Robert Macfarlane
Over the moon to finally be reading @robgmacfarlane.bsky.social's "Is a River Alive?"
Feel like I've just sat down and already a hundred pages have disappeared. Temporarily tearing myself away so I can visit my own local river.
Feel like I've just sat down and already a hundred pages have disappeared. Temporarily tearing myself away so I can visit my own local river.
May 24, 2025 at 12:44 PM
Over the moon to finally be reading @robgmacfarlane.bsky.social's "Is a River Alive?"
Feel like I've just sat down and already a hundred pages have disappeared. Temporarily tearing myself away so I can visit my own local river.
Feel like I've just sat down and already a hundred pages have disappeared. Temporarily tearing myself away so I can visit my own local river.
Reposted by Robert Macfarlane
Victory for wild camping at the Supreme Court!
The verdict is a relief– but Dartmoor remains the *only* place in England & Wales where the public has a right to wild camp
Labour must now pass a new right to roam act to defend & extend the public’s access rights
www.theguardian.com/uk-news/2025...
The verdict is a relief– but Dartmoor remains the *only* place in England & Wales where the public has a right to wild camp
Labour must now pass a new right to roam act to defend & extend the public’s access rights
www.theguardian.com/uk-news/2025...
Wild camping on Dartmoor is legal, supreme court rules
Case came to supreme court after court of appeal determined the term ‘open-air recreation’ included camping
www.theguardian.com
May 21, 2025 at 10:04 AM
Victory for wild camping at the Supreme Court!
The verdict is a relief– but Dartmoor remains the *only* place in England & Wales where the public has a right to wild camp
Labour must now pass a new right to roam act to defend & extend the public’s access rights
www.theguardian.com/uk-news/2025...
The verdict is a relief– but Dartmoor remains the *only* place in England & Wales where the public has a right to wild camp
Labour must now pass a new right to roam act to defend & extend the public’s access rights
www.theguardian.com/uk-news/2025...
Hello—Is A River Alive? is published today in the US by @wwnorton.com.
The beautiful jacket of living, writhing rivers is based on art by the great @stanleydonwood.bsky.social.
I feel deeply committed to the rivers, people & ideas in this book—& can’t wait to come to North America with it next week.
The beautiful jacket of living, writhing rivers is based on art by the great @stanleydonwood.bsky.social.
I feel deeply committed to the rivers, people & ideas in this book—& can’t wait to come to North America with it next week.
May 20, 2025 at 3:25 PM
Hello—Is A River Alive? is published today in the US by @wwnorton.com.
The beautiful jacket of living, writhing rivers is based on art by the great @stanleydonwood.bsky.social.
I feel deeply committed to the rivers, people & ideas in this book—& can’t wait to come to North America with it next week.
The beautiful jacket of living, writhing rivers is based on art by the great @stanleydonwood.bsky.social.
I feel deeply committed to the rivers, people & ideas in this book—& can’t wait to come to North America with it next week.
Reposted by Robert Macfarlane
Massive anti-genocide protest in London today, hundreds of thousands demand justice and an end to Israel’s ongoing genocide of Gaza. #3E #EndImpunity #freepalestine
May 17, 2025 at 6:09 PM
Massive anti-genocide protest in London today, hundreds of thousands demand justice and an end to Israel’s ongoing genocide of Gaza. #3E #EndImpunity #freepalestine
I spoke with the brilliant @jonathan-watts.bsky.social about the experience of writing "with" rivers; about freshwater and life and power—and about hope as a discipline.
www.theguardian.com/environment/...
www.theguardian.com/environment/...
Rob Macfarlane : ‘Sometimes I felt as if the river was writing me’
The writer and poet on reimagining rivers as living beings, the ecological crisis near and far and why copyright laws should protect nature
www.theguardian.com
May 17, 2025 at 6:23 PM
I spoke with the brilliant @jonathan-watts.bsky.social about the experience of writing "with" rivers; about freshwater and life and power—and about hope as a discipline.
www.theguardian.com/environment/...
www.theguardian.com/environment/...
Reposted by Robert Macfarlane
So, for those killed and those whose voices are silenced: what more evidence do you need?
Will you act now – decisively – to prevent genocide in Gaza and to ensure respect for international humanitarian law?
This Council must prevail. Demand this ends.
Will you act now – decisively – to prevent genocide in Gaza and to ensure respect for international humanitarian law?
This Council must prevail. Demand this ends.
May 14, 2025 at 2:03 AM
So, for those killed and those whose voices are silenced: what more evidence do you need?
Will you act now – decisively – to prevent genocide in Gaza and to ensure respect for international humanitarian law?
This Council must prevail. Demand this ends.
Will you act now – decisively – to prevent genocide in Gaza and to ensure respect for international humanitarian law?
This Council must prevail. Demand this ends.
Reposted by Robert Macfarlane
There is not a single congressional district in the U.S. where more than 15% of voters support cuts to Medicaid.
May 13, 2025 at 2:22 PM
There is not a single congressional district in the U.S. where more than 15% of voters support cuts to Medicaid.
Hello––Is A River Alive? is published in the US & Canada on 20 May.
I am coming on tour––dates & locations below––& would love to speak of the book’s ideas, people & rivers to as many folk as possible while I'm out there.
Please let anyone know who you think might want to come to an event.
Cheers!
I am coming on tour––dates & locations below––& would love to speak of the book’s ideas, people & rivers to as many folk as possible while I'm out there.
Please let anyone know who you think might want to come to an event.
Cheers!
May 11, 2025 at 3:03 PM
Hello––Is A River Alive? is published in the US & Canada on 20 May.
I am coming on tour––dates & locations below––& would love to speak of the book’s ideas, people & rivers to as many folk as possible while I'm out there.
Please let anyone know who you think might want to come to an event.
Cheers!
I am coming on tour––dates & locations below––& would love to speak of the book’s ideas, people & rivers to as many folk as possible while I'm out there.
Please let anyone know who you think might want to come to an event.
Cheers!
Reposted by Robert Macfarlane
This is a searing editorial in the Financial Times.
The West’s Shameful Silence on Gaza.
If this had been written by students, and not the Editorial Board of the FT, they would be getting snatched off the streets by ICE.
The West’s Shameful Silence on Gaza.
If this had been written by students, and not the Editorial Board of the FT, they would be getting snatched off the streets by ICE.
May 7, 2025 at 8:31 PM
This is a searing editorial in the Financial Times.
The West’s Shameful Silence on Gaza.
If this had been written by students, and not the Editorial Board of the FT, they would be getting snatched off the streets by ICE.
The West’s Shameful Silence on Gaza.
If this had been written by students, and not the Editorial Board of the FT, they would be getting snatched off the streets by ICE.
This winter I finished writing a full-length choral requiem for the Sycamore Gap tree, called The World Tree.
The Finnish composer Matthew Whittall is setting it to music now.
Premieres in Helsinki in November—sung by Helsinki Chamber Choir—then 🤞 travel to UK.
www.thetimes.com/uk/arts/arti...
The Finnish composer Matthew Whittall is setting it to music now.
Premieres in Helsinki in November—sung by Helsinki Chamber Choir—then 🤞 travel to UK.
www.thetimes.com/uk/arts/arti...
Nature writer’s requiem for the Sycamore Gap tree
Robert Macfarlane’s composition The World Tree will performed by the Helsinki Chamber Choir this year
www.thetimes.com
May 9, 2025 at 1:07 PM
This winter I finished writing a full-length choral requiem for the Sycamore Gap tree, called The World Tree.
The Finnish composer Matthew Whittall is setting it to music now.
Premieres in Helsinki in November—sung by Helsinki Chamber Choir—then 🤞 travel to UK.
www.thetimes.com/uk/arts/arti...
The Finnish composer Matthew Whittall is setting it to music now.
Premieres in Helsinki in November—sung by Helsinki Chamber Choir—then 🤞 travel to UK.
www.thetimes.com/uk/arts/arti...
Some conclusions from this dismal episode:
* heritage trees need listing & strong legal protection
* a sense of nature/the living world as disposable, even laughable, runs deep
* “Far from being the big men they thought they were…they were rather pathetic.”
www.theguardian.com/uk-news/2025...
* heritage trees need listing & strong legal protection
* a sense of nature/the living world as disposable, even laughable, runs deep
* “Far from being the big men they thought they were…they were rather pathetic.”
www.theguardian.com/uk-news/2025...
Two men found guilty of felling Sycamore Gap tree
Daniel Graham, 39, and Adam Carruthers, 32, found to have criminally damaged tree and Hadrian’s Wall
www.theguardian.com
May 9, 2025 at 12:14 PM
Some conclusions from this dismal episode:
* heritage trees need listing & strong legal protection
* a sense of nature/the living world as disposable, even laughable, runs deep
* “Far from being the big men they thought they were…they were rather pathetic.”
www.theguardian.com/uk-news/2025...
* heritage trees need listing & strong legal protection
* a sense of nature/the living world as disposable, even laughable, runs deep
* “Far from being the big men they thought they were…they were rather pathetic.”
www.theguardian.com/uk-news/2025...
Reposted by Robert Macfarlane
Opinion from the FT's Editorial Board: 'The US and European countries that tout Israel as an ally that shares their values have issued barely a word of condemnation. They should be ashamed of their silence, and stop enabling Netanyahu to act with impunity.' www.ft.com/content/f5fd...
May 7, 2025 at 3:16 PM
Opinion from the FT's Editorial Board: 'The US and European countries that tout Israel as an ally that shares their values have issued barely a word of condemnation. They should be ashamed of their silence, and stop enabling Netanyahu to act with impunity.' www.ft.com/content/f5fd...
Hello—Is A River Alive? has been adapted as Radio 4’s Book of the Week next week.
Five episodes, read by me—& we’ve folded in field recordings & some beautiful Max Richter music.
First episode, Anima, broadcasts tomorrow at 11.45am.
You can listen here:
www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/m...
Five episodes, read by me—& we’ve folded in field recordings & some beautiful Max Richter music.
First episode, Anima, broadcasts tomorrow at 11.45am.
You can listen here:
www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/m...
BBC Radio 4 - Is a River Alive? by Robert Macfarlane, Episode 1: Anima
Robert Macfarlane explores an idea that changes the world – that a river is alive.
www.bbc.co.uk
May 4, 2025 at 8:02 PM
Hello—Is A River Alive? has been adapted as Radio 4’s Book of the Week next week.
Five episodes, read by me—& we’ve folded in field recordings & some beautiful Max Richter music.
First episode, Anima, broadcasts tomorrow at 11.45am.
You can listen here:
www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/m...
Five episodes, read by me—& we’ve folded in field recordings & some beautiful Max Richter music.
First episode, Anima, broadcasts tomorrow at 11.45am.
You can listen here:
www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/m...