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The Clearing with Katherine May

Where would you go to rest and retreat, in good times and bad?

Katherine May, author of Wintering and Enchantment, asks her guests to share their idea of a perfect sanctuary. Drawing on memory, inspiration and imagination, she explores the things we seek out when we need to restore our joy, hope and energy.

It begins with a forest clearing. What will we find there? A log cabin or a grand hotel? What cherished object or talisman would you bring? And what single work of art, be it a book, record, film or something else, would provide you with enough sustenance to see you through the darkness and remind you of the good times?

In a series of frank, thoughtful and deeply personal conversations, The Clearing will explore the cultural, social and spiritual mindset needed to survive difficult times.

Katherine’s Links:

Visit The Clearing website https://katherine-may.co.uk/the-clearing-podcast to discover how to enjoy the episodes ad free

Katherine’s new book, Tending: How Care Binds the World is out in March and you can pre-order it here https://katherine-may.co.uk/tending

Buy Katherine’s books: Enchantment | Wintering | The Electricity of Every Living Thing: UK / US

Follow Katherine on Instagram

Visit Katherine’s Website

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Copyright: Copyright © Katherine May

Latest Episodes:

Aimee Nezhukumatathil on nurturing wonder through nature Jan 28, 2022

Show notes

Welcome to the Wintering Sessions with Katherine May.

This week Katherine chats to Aimee Nezhukumatathil, author of ‘World Of Wonders’ and more.

An uplifting, soulful and inspiring chat with Aimee and Katherine, beginning with a foundation of wonder and never dropping the ball once.

Moving from prose to poetry and immediately feeling boundaries being lifted, Aimee has put out some truly valuable work into the world and this is a perfect opportunity to get to the heart of it all.

As always, it branches out into some rich areas including the juxtaposition of memoir and nature, enforced patriotism as a child, the gradual introduction of cultural reference while growing up, seeing the restrictive attitudes of the 80’s dissolving through generations, examples of harnessing the outdoors and nature from her parents and her geography being shaped by their professions, making your own entertainment, moments of wonder and how children can help trigger them in adults through example, the luxury of time in enjoying the outdoors and so much more to enrich your day.

AIMEE LINKS

World Of Wonders

Poetry Foundation

All things Aimee

KATHERINE LINKS

The Wintering Sessions

Katherine's writing class

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Elissa Altman on navigating the Motherland Jan 14, 2022

Show notes

Welcome to the Wintering Sessions with Katherine May.

This week Katherine chats to Elissa Altman, author of ‘Motherland’ and more.

Katherine finds Elissa in that pre-Christmas zone, which serves as the perfect jumping-off point for a very upfront, candid and fascinating conversation on family. Specifically, Elissa's relationship with her mother. Like every family, it's a relationship which is unique and comes with its own inimitable history, and as such, informs where the two find themselves this present day, and it's a wonderful thing to hear Elissa talk openly about all that is contained within this box of memories and present moments. In addition, Elissa catches up with Katherine about the New England Winter, being a feeder, her relationship with her father, mental wellbeing, getting out of the 'swamp' via nature and its grounding properties, rediscovering and reprocessing her musical proclivities, and all with a real glint and sparkle.

ELISSA LINKS

KATHERINE LINKS

The Wintering Sessions

Katherine's writing class

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Maggie Smith on the mutual reflection of poetry Dec 31, 2021

Show notes

Welcome to the Wintering Sessions with Katherine May.

This week Katherine chats to Maggie Smith, poet, writer and editor from Columbus, Ohio.

You may know Maggie's tremendous work via her poem 'Good Bones', which she has a difficult relationship with. The poem is often referenced in times of crisis, which she thinks of as a 'disaster barometer' - she break downs this fascinating dissonance in her chat with Katherine, which reaches a wide range of topics including metpahor, the 'tasting' approach to culture, her own range of published works, America's history of being unsafe for many, being honest with children, how younger people understand pronouns so well, the divorce whisperer, prose, how the content dictates the container, the act of physically writing on paper, seasons and the beauty in the decay of Fall. So much to inspire and invigorate. A delight.

MAGGIE LINKS

KATHERINE LINKS

The Wintering Sessions

Katherine's writing class

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Cheryl Strayed on walking through the wilderness Dec 20, 2021

Show notes

Welcome to the Wintering Sessions with Katherine May.

This week Katherine chats to Cheryl Strayed, author of ‘Wild’ and so many more.

A luxurious chat from the beginning til the end, this is a wonderful chance to get to know Cheryl a little better and hear the voice behind the books. It’s a true comfort, which folds in everything from the power of walking and what it can do to you, the unfinished walk, the male narrative and damage on all sides, finding the ‘off’ button for our brains and whether such a thing is achievable, brainfog, her ‘Dear Sugar’ advice columns and discovering the human ‘standard set of problems’, and not being scared by the wilderness in which she grew. Lovely, and nourishing too.

Quick note: Katherine mentioned heliotropic breathwork, which she immediately noted was 'holotropic' - just in case you pick up on that!

CHERYL LINKS

Main site (all books listed here)

Sugar Calling Podcast

KATHERINE LINKS

The Wintering Sessions

Katherine's writing class

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Jennifer Pastiloff on the power of 'I Got You' Dec 10, 2021

Show notes

Welcome to the Wintering Sessions with Katherine May.

This week Katherine chats to Jennifer Pastiloff, a speaker, teacher, and author of ‘On Being Human’.

In a warm and honest chat with Katherine, Jennifer perfectly lays the table for where she finds herself at this point in time, as a yoga instructor, public speaker and best selling author. With an attitude of ‘I Got You’ - extended to a community which she has cultivated with care over time - she has learned to transform her own feelings of shame towards her deafness, and earlier moments of trauma in her life. It’s an episode which offers effective solutions within, and inspiring thoughts on behaviours, being misunderstood, and ‘silencing the inner asshole’, as well as overlaps with deafness and autism, and being a founder of a movement known as ‘Shame Loss’.

JENNIFER LINKS

Jennifer's Podcast

KATHERINE LINKS

The Wintering Sessions

Katherine's writing class

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Jackee Holder on the good things in life May 06, 2021

Show notes

Welcome to the Wintering Sessions with Katherine May.

This week Katherine chats to Jackee Holder, coach and author of 'Writing With Fabulous Trees', among many more.

Jackee Holder is a writer, walker, coach, interfaith minister and daughter of the windrush. In this uplifting conversation, she talks about the capacity of life to uplift us, her love of libraries, and how a tree helped her to treasure her name.

Hear Jackee expand too on her introvert / extrovert sides, rituals and body prayers, seasons and trees and nature metaphors, having skeletons on full display rather than in the closet, Enid Blyton, 'pouring libation', her superhero mother with hidden sea skills and a huge amount more in what Jackee herself refers to as a 'campfire chat'. A lovely and perfectly fitting finalé to season 2 of The Wintering Sessions!

JACKEE LINKS

Writing With Fabulous Trees

West Norwood Library

Parable Of The Sower (Octavia Butler)

KATHERINE LINKS

The Wintering Sessions

Katherine's writing class

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Michelle Adams on how life can change in an instant Apr 29, 2021

Show notes

Welcome to the Wintering Sessions with Katherine May.

This week Katherine chats to author Michelle Adams.

Michelle Adams is best known as the author of Little Wishes, Between the Lies and My Sister. In this episode, she talks about a sudden and unexplained illness that disrupted everything she knew about herself, and how vital her support network became during that time.

In other areas of this open and honest chat, Michelle also expands on her love of podcasting over the written interview, allergy season in Cyprus where she and her family make their home, the whole process of her life being shaken up through her experience, reflections with the clarity of time and so much more which will give you a glorious insight into her character.

MICHELLE LINKS

Katherine on Michelle's podcast Beyond Words

KATHERINE LINKS

The Wintering Sessions

Katherine's writing class

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Angela Barnes on the continual winter of Persistent Depressive Disorder Apr 22, 2021

Show notes

Welcome to the Wintering Sessions with Katherine May.

This week Katherine chats to Angela Barnes, podcaster, comedian and regular panel guest on Mock The Week (and much more!).

Angela Barnes has zero tolerance for anyone reassuring her that she's pretty - it talks over her lived experience, and does nothing to change her self-perception. Here, she discusses living with Persistent Depressive Disorder, which has made her whole life feel like the drizzly English climate, but which has also made her more able than most to endure the hard-knocks life of a stand-up comedian.

A very cheerful chat which always zeroes in on the important points with lazer focus, picking up on where Angela is in the greater pandemic situation, working with her PDD, building daily frameworks, having a comedy tribe which normalizes certain behaviours and actions, fear of rejection, CBT, entitlement, TV, the perils and - well, perils of social media, and the notion of beauty on a grand scale.

ANGELA LINKS

We Are History podcast

KATHERINE LINKS

The Wintering Sessions

Katherine's writing class

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Josie George on the joy of small things Apr 15, 2021

Show notes

Welcome to the Wintering Sessions with Katherine May.

This week Katherine chats to Josie George, author of 'A Still Life: A Memoir'.

Josie George has always lived with a complex of medical conditions that are difficult to name, but which leave her permanently in pain and having to carefully manage her mindset and energies in order to cope with everyday life. Here, she talks about the joys she finds in small things, and the vibrant appreciation for life that her restrictions have given her.

An upfront and positive chat in which Josie goes into her history with health, illness versus wellness, forms of gaslighting taking place through diagnoses, spiralling but maintaining forward motion, adapting to change rather than stopping, maintaining presence and tuning into frequencies of mindfulness.

JOSIE LINKS

A Still Life: A Memoir

Josie in The Guardian

KATHERINE LINKS

The Wintering Sessions

Katherine's writing class

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Georgina Lawton on growing up Black in a white family Apr 08, 2021

Show notes

Welcome to the Wintering Sessions with Katherine May.

This week Katherine chats to Georgina Lawton, author of 'Raceless: In Search of Family, Identity, and the Truth About Where I Belong'.

For most of her life, Georgina Lawton was aware that she didn't look like her white family, but by her teens, she was no longer able to believe her parent's line that she was a genetic 'throwback' to a Black ancestor. In her memoir, Raceless, she writes about the painful process of forging a Black identity from scratch, and the painstaking work of repairing her relationship with her mother after years of denial.

A really lovely chat which branches out onto areas including her Surrey upbringing, the sense of confusion in her early years, the experience of receiving racial comments more often as she grew up, finding friend groups, her amazing perspective shifts through travel, and her strategies in breaking down her racial origins - she has developed numerous versions depending on the situation. A fascinating look at family, friends and society.

GEORGINA LINKS

Raceless: In Search of Family, Identity, and the Truth About Where I Belong

Politics & Prose chat

KATHERINE LINKS

The Wintering Sessions

Katherine's writing class

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

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