Jules Pretty
Author | Researcher | Story
Emeritus Professor of Environment and Society
My 2022 book, Sea Sagas of the North, is about identity, place, and the dance of ecological and cultural change. There are shadows on the shining sea. Fish cities have shrunk to hamlets, old ports have been levelled and harbours are full of warming water yet there’s barely a single ship.
An Arctic author asks, how do you say goodbye to a glacier? A burnished skipper leans across the table and says, you know, we were more tolerant in those days, when we sailed and steamed and brought home gifts and stories. They travelled on a sea that once was dry, and now is warming once again, washing at the lower lands. It seems more storms are gathering.
This book is about the many inspiring stories and sagas from the North Sea and eastern North Atlantic. These offer hope for different futures.
You will find links below to my blog series, The Climate Chronicles, and to the 76 podcasts and films I have hosted in the Louder than Words and Brighter Futures series. You will also find photographs and Shodo/Sumi-e calligraphy and ink artwork in the galleries.
I give talks to a wide range of public groups, at dedicated meetings, at arts and book festivals, at conferences, and online. A major focus in the 2020s has been on climate action and story. These have been to parishes, councils, schools, bookshops, community climate groups, businesses, wildlife organisations and U3As.
I also give half-day and evening Story Masterclasses and Climate Classes.
I am available to give talks pretty much at any time and place. Please contact me by email.
Shodo is the way of traditional brush calligraphy. I use shodo to create and illustrate the koans that feature as central content to The Climate Chronicles series.
Sumi-e is Chinese/Japanese ink painting.
I am also a tai chi practitioner.
This kanji character to the right is mu (nothingness, or just no) in sosho style.
I use colour and black & white photographes to explore the essence of place, nature and people. You will find a selection of images drawn from locations worldwide in the Gallery. Some of these are illustrated by haiku poems.