Lulah Ellender and Marc Hamer Chaired by Matthew Stadlen

Writers Lulah Ellender and Marc Hamer talk about their latest books and how they both show how we use gardens as a form of solace and as a place where we can find ourselves at home.

In Grounding: Finding Home in a Garden, Ellender draws on inspiration from her own gardening and from gardens such as Charleston, Great Dixter and Sissinghurst to explore how gardeners use their places as sources of artistic inspiration, sexual freedom, solace and security, creativity and rootedness. Ellender uses her own experience of eviction to reflect on how tuning into the rhythms of nature helps us to live with uncertainty and temporariness and become more connected to the places we live. Ellender teaches creative non-fiction at the Creative Writing Programme in Brighton. She is also a book coach and was writer in residence at Charleston’s Festival of the Garden 2021 and the Wealden Literary Festival 2021. She is also author of Elisabeth’s Lists.

Hamer’s Spring Rain explains how the author found solace and safety in a small back garden as a young child growing up in a violent home. Now in his sixties and building a final garden at his Cardiff home, he looks back at what he has learned from his days as a child watching ants to later life as a professional gardener. Hamer has worked in art galleries and taught creative writing in prisons before becoming a professional gardener. His books, A Life in Nature or How to Catch a Mole and Seed to Dust, were longlisted for the Wainwright Prize.

Discussions are chaired by former LBC radio host and BBC presenter Matthew Stadlen.