As, if I was any good at all at writing anything on this website, I would have said ages ago, I am really delighted to be writing a new book for Granta – this one nonfiction, which is a first for me. Its title is Sarn Helen. It’s an account of a long walk I have made over the past few months (when lockdowns have permitted) along the one-time Roman road, Sarn Helen, from Neath in South Wales to Caerhun (near Conwy) in the north. At least, that is the spine of the book. It is about all sorts of things, though centrally about the future of Wales – and the world – under climate change and what we might learn from the attitudes to the natural world of, particularly, the 6th-century saints. Given which, I’ve been laughing a lot while doing it. This may be because of being locked up with children, or perhaps it is actually sometimes quite funny. In any case, how great to be back with Granta. They are a fine bunch indeed.
