A lot of exciting things have happened, all at once! My new book, Ghosts of the Farm, Two Women’s Journeys Through Time, Land and Community is out now – and I’ve had the most wonderful and encouraging initial reviews. Authors I deeply admire have said breathtakingly lovely stuff, early readers I hugely value have said such things too – and Melissa Harrison has written the sort of review I dreamt of for Caught by the River. You can read the Prologue there, and if you’re a subscriber, an in depth interview with Tallulah Brennan, too. https://www.caughtbytheriver.net/2025/09/nicola-chester-ghosts-of-the-farm-review/

I had my book launch at a sell-out event with the wonderful Hungerford Books, in the historic, community-owned Croft Hall – which felt right and proper (see more about the history/ forward-looking approach of this very special little town, below).

Other upcoming events are on the Events tab, but a Writing Workshop and Evening Talk at the lovely FarmED, in Chipping Norton, Oxfordshire – the regenerative demonstration farm that has recently hosted a talk by James Rebanks, and the Wainwright Prize Ceremony – is next. https://www.farm-ed.co.uk/events/197/wild-writing-workshop-with-nicola-chester

And in other book news, I’m really delighted to have a piece in the just-published The Book of Bogs https://www.littletoller.co.uk/shop/books/little-toller/the-book-of-bogs-edited-by-anna-chilvers-and-clare-shaw/ with stellar writers, friends and those whose writing I deeply admire. My piece is about Wuthering Heights, Emily Bronte, Heathcliff, Kate Bush, the moors of the imagination, the Ogoni People and Shell. All a lot closer than you might think!

Some absolutely brilliant local (but also of course, beyond-local) wildlife news next: Two eco/ environment projects are happening very close to me, and I’m thrilled beyond bits to be involved in both of them. Kennet Valley Wetland Reserve https://townandmanor.co.uk/wetland-reserve/ has been granted planning permission to turn some long-neglected riverside farmland back into water meadows and wetlands beside the chalk River Kennet. It’ll have public access and quiet, sensitive areas for wildlife and has outline planning permission for a Visitor Centre. Owned by the unique and historic Town and Manor of Hungerford and Liberty of Sanden Fee, it’s another ‘community-owned’ asset to our quirky rural town that puts people, wildlife, commons and the environment at its heart. I’m preparing my metaphorical pom-poms to be an over-excited Ambassador for the project, and an all-round cheerleader.

The other project is even closer to me – literally on our (new*) doorstep – and I’m really very  emotional about that link (what can it mean? Is it fate? It feels like a dream come true!) Kintbury Chase is a rural estate, a former game shoot and farm that is being rehealed within the community, and has been turning up some wonderful wild treasures for some time. It also has planning for an Eco Centre for all kinds of engagement, study and creativity – and I’m beside myself with excitement to be part of a small team of dedicated and very knowledgeable people helping to look after and develop its potential. I’m learning a lot, and am delighted to be chief ‘storyteller,’ helping to tell its stories, of people, place and wildlife, as Writer in Residence. More to come and watch this very exciting space!  https://kintburyecocentre.org/index.php

I also got to go to the inaugural Wild Summit https://wcl.org.uk/wildsummituk.asp (thank you Wild Justice) organised by the ever-more-brilliant Wildlife and Countryside Link https://wcl.org.uk/  in Bristol in September, and listened to and engaged in some brilliant talks and chat for nature, people and planet. It was so inspiring and full of hope, but also, importantly action. I’m looking forward to seeing where this goes.

The Climate Fiction Prize https://climatefictionprize.co.uk/ has announced its second year – submissions and an absolutely stellar line-up of judges, in Arifa Akbar, chief theatre critic, writer and Chair of Judges, Kit de Waal, award-winning novelist, Jessie Greengrass, award-winning novelist, Friederike Otto, climatologist, and Simon Savidge, broadcaster and presenter. They are in for a wild ride and I shall be cheering them all on (I had the privilege of being a judge last year, for the inaugural prize, and it was an incredible experience). It’s great to know the Prize is in such safe hands! I recommend following and sharing in the news of the process, the long and shortlists, as this Prize continues to grow and progress. As Abi Daré, inaugural Climate Fiction Prize winner says “This prize matters because fiction lets us bear witness and makes the abstract real. It gets under your skin and moves the heart in a way data alone cannot”

I’m also 3 weeks into tutoring the online Granta Course in Nature Writing, with some absolutely incredible writers from all round the world. I have to say, I’m learning so much, and loving the experience. The students are blowing apart the idea of what nature writing is and can be, and putting it together in new and thrilling ways. Honestly, the future of nature writing is alive and well, reinventing itself, remaining deeply relevant, evolving and challenging ideas and conceptions, and doing its own wild thing. Blown away!  https://workshops.granta.com/courses/nature-writing

I’m sure there’s something else I’ve forgotten to mention (though it’s already a long newsletter) but we are also *moving house, after 21 yrs in this little tenanted farm cottage, that featured in On Gallows Down, Ghosts of the Farm and so much of my writing. It’s emotional. The three children grew up here. But it’s time to go; the writing hut is back up, though not yet weatherproofed – and to be fair, we’re only going half a mile down the lane, to Mum’s. She’s moving into a new annexe next door. All will be well and our new home is sandwiched between Kintbury Chase and Manor Farm (the star of Ghosts of the Farm) so it feels almost unbelievably, absolutely right.

Look out for my next Blog/ Substack, coming shortly, An Ecology of Love and Ruin!

Bye for now!