A Year of Under the Hawthorn Tree
and what to expect in the coming months
Dear Friends,
Last March I launched Under the Hawthorn Tree with a story from Arunachal Pradesh, in India’s far Northeast, a place very dear to my heart. Since then I’ve bought you dispatches from Nagaland, Georgia’s southern highlands, the Tajik Pamirs, Myanmar, a cave mosque in Kazakhstan, and Brian Eno’s studio. Together we’ve tracked snow leopards, met shamans, sung My heart will go on with a wonderful Burmese teacher, and sat around fires in mountain villages, listening to the gurgle of opium pipes.
I started this newsletter as a means to write the stories which don’t quite fit into newspapers and magazines, and also as a way of showing me what I really wanted to write about, a compass of sorts. And I’m so happy I took the plunge: writing to you each month has been one of the highlights of my last year. I’ve loved thinking about the stories I want to tell, and how I can hit that sweet spot between good storytelling and shining a light on the stuff that matters to me: climate breakdown, Indigenous rights, biodiversity loss, the astonishing beauty of the natural world.
I hope you’ve enjoyed coming on this journey with me too, and a huge THANK YOU to you all for being here - for reading, commenting, emailing. An extra big thank you to all those who’ve become paid subscribers.
So, what’s next?
The basic format of my newsletter will stay the same, with the option to become either a free or paid subscriber.
Free subscribers can read my main post on the last Sunday of the month, and will also get a short preview of other posts.
Paid subscribers get access to:
My main Under the Hawthorn Tree story on the last Sunday of every month
Article voiceovers
Three one month gift subscriptions to give to friends and family
Access to the whole archive
The ability to comment, ask questions and be part of the community
Access to online gatherings, webinars and events, such as the Write with Me sessions I ran in January. Expect more of this sort of thing in the coming months, as well as interviews with writers and changemakers.
A new monthly newsletter called The Magpie, landing in your inbox on the second Wednesday of the month.
In addition to all of this, Founding Members get a signed copy of one of my books plus a 45-minute 1-1 Zoom session.
The Magpie is a new monthly round-up of events, books, films and grants (plus anything else that’s caught my eye) linked to the stories and subjects covered in Under the Hawthorn Tree. The first two months will be free, but after that it’ll be for paid subscribers only.
The first edition (which will go out next Wednesday, and thereafter on the second Wednesday of the month) features two about-to-be released travel books, a film about rewilding, a biodiversity media grant, an event at the Royal Geographical Society, and more. I do hope you like it and, as ever, would welcome your thoughts and comments.
Finally, thank you to all the other writers who have recommended Under the Hawthorn Tree and welcomed me into the bosom of the Substack community, particularly Mark Diacono, Anna McNuff and Clem Cecil. You’re all fabulous.
Love and hawthorns,
Ants xx