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Disko Bay, Enitharmon Editions, 2015, ISBN 9781910392188 - shortlisted for the Forward Prize for Best First Collection. [6]
As summer begins, Nancy embraces the challenge of howto live well in a space in which possessions and emotions oftenthreaten to tumble. And as illness and uncertainty loom once more,it is this anchored van that will bring her solace and hope. As summer begins, Nancy embraces the challenge of how to live well in a space in which possessions and emotions often threaten to tumble. She masters the van’s mysterious mechanics, but as empty passenger trains rumble past inches from the windows, rain and grief threaten to flood in. How might we love (these people, these places, these times, these things) we may — at any given moment — have to learn, in turn — to mourn?An NHS brochure gave communication advice that could have been designed for any relationship: be patient, don’t finish their sentences for them, listen. Besides, there are other forms of expression than speech. For more than a decade Nancy has dedicated her time to witnessing and writing on environmental change so while Thunderstone is an exploration of living alternatively, it is also very much about humans’ relationship to the land. As she shares: “I appreciate being immersed in nature with wrens and robins as my neighbours and even the occasional heron but I am also very aware that the green space I live in is a human construct. Of course that could apply to much of the ‘natural’ landscape of the UK, but the canals are somewhere one is especially aware of it.” In craft sessions at the rehab unit she had made a wooden chopping board, a terrifying spike in one corner to hold veg in place. She had hero-worshipped debonair food writer Michael Ruhlman, but now turned to Michelin-starred Michael Caines, who lost his right hand in a car accident. Living with (and being a carer for) someone with aphasia and a brain injury brings many insights into the wonder and complexity of human language. At the same time, for a while I found myself unable to write anything for publication - I was too full of grief. I kept a private journal of my days in the van. Then, slowly as the weeks passed, I realised these very private words, and the notes-to-self, new experiences and life lessons that were unfurling in them, were my next book.
Do not turn away joy – even if it arrives at an inconvenient time, even if you think you should be grieving, even if you think it’s “too soon.” Joy is always on time.’ I wander into the village to buy bread and coffee. Willow fluff drifts in the humid air, like a slow-motion Hollywood snowstorm. Oak, hazel and hawthorn saplings in pots outside Prerona’s boat Rigmarole, with a sign saying free saplings, please take one. Little Katie, her daughter, has also made signs, directed at the cyclists, who barrel past the boat at dangerous speed on their morning commute. One sign warns: ‘ammasl live her to’. To illustrate the point, Katie has drawn an earthworm the size of a dog, a dog the size of an earthworm. Another says simply, ‘thanqu.’
A baby’s cry. Of course — above gynaecology, maternity…Time compresses like an accordion. The slow tender note it plays is a blessing I send to my former self. I can see one bright star. My eyes will find others if I stay a while.’ Just glorious, brave, awe inspiring and, exactly as is said on the front cover of the book, it’s truly life-affirming.
The sooner a person receives treatment for stroke, the less damage is likely. Anna’s life was saved by a relatively new procedure known as mechanical thrombectomy, which sends a catheter through the blood vessels to siphon clots from the brain. Campbell said: “ Thunderstone is a book I never expected to write, a private journal that has become the most public document. It’s a book about a time I would never have dared to imagine living through. It is very humbling and even a little heartbreaking to receive such a prestigious accolade for a memoir describing days when, as carer for someone with aphasia, I grew ambivalent about the sound of my voice, questioned the power of words, and went through a deep crisis in my role as a writer. Thunderstone was always going to be a wild experiment, and I’m extremely grateful to my publishers, Elliott & Thompson, for daring to embark on this joyride.Caring can be a lonely occupation at the best of times and, unaware of the support offered by organisations like Carers UK, I suffered in silence. Thunderstone goes well beyond mere memoir. Nancy is a badass, a wild woman corralling experiences of poetry, humanity and the natural world to shape visions of new ways forward for us all.’ Matthew Teller, journalist and author of Nine Quarters Of Jerusalem Since that time Nancy has been appointed Canal Laureate by the Poetry Society and Canal & River Trust and, during her two-year tenure (2018-19), kayaked a significant amount of the 2000 miles of waterways, meeting those who lived and worked on them while gathering material for poems. Nancy’s Caravan
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