Magical Journeys: Wild
By Claire Steele
Deep within our psyche is a dark and beautiful place from which we respond to the irresistible call of the wild. No matter how civilised we imagine ourselves to be, wildness is deeply imprinted into us; we relax and blossom to the heartbeat of the natural world. The wild offers us a vision of ourselves that feels frighteningly free. When we stand in awe of nature, we recognise something in ourselves that we know to be true. Perhaps most of human knowledge comes from the wild, and our attempts to tame it into the civilised.
Wild is a collection of stories by twelve writers arising out of the Magical Journeys writing workshops. These explorations of our wildest sides range from the futuristic, and humorous through to historical, autobiographical, horror, romance and contemporary enquiries as to how wildness and the wilderness permeates who we are and where we might desire or fear to go. For most of human history, wildness has been part of our collective imaginations – from the societies we construct to the landscapes we now wish to protect. These stories celebrate and investigate how we navigate what it means to live on the wild side.
“No matter how civilised we imagine ourselves to be, wildness is deeply imprinted into us”
This collection of short stories invites you to venture into the wild. From the unrestrained romance explored variously in Hyacinth Learns to Crochet, Boxersand The Letters of Constance and Patiencethrough to the dark mysteries of mortality in Ascensionand the wild majesty of the unknown central to My Uncle’s Teeth,these stories repeat the call not to remain in the safe familiar gardens of the already-known but to venture into the magnificent and challenging territories of the new, in order to see the world differently and understand humanity a little bit more fully.
“For most of human history, wildness has been part of our collective imaginations”
Thoreau’s famous request for “a wildness whose glance no civilization can endure” might beamply satisfied by stories such asWildewhich explores the carnal appetites that a civilised veneer attempts to hide. Here, desire stalks the stalker in a tale that is layered with different predatory behaviours. Desire, the story suggests, is not merely about your wildest dreams coming true, it’s about being able to dream the wildest side of you.
We journey into the wild in trust and wonder, with the hope of encountering, just possibly, the wisdom that is needed for our modern world. The Bells of St Agnesalerts us to the crises we face if we ignore the significance of our wild spaces. Here we venture into the wilderness to find beauty and to experience the extraordinary, even the sublime. We embrace it in order to bring magic into the mundane. We are called to be good custodians of this wilderness. The real monsters, the story suggests, might well be those at the heart of what we call civilisation.
“it’s about being able to dream the wildest side of you”
Here are twelve stories that contemplate the wildness all around us, and the wildness deep within us. The wild is right here, all we have to do is to obey its call.
Wild is available to order now on Amazon, expect delivery mid-August: https://www.amazon.co.uk/Wild-Magical-Journeys/dp/1909227897/ref=sr_1_1?keywords=wild+mardibooks&qid=1565357299&s=gateway&sr=8-1
Leave a Reply