Prompted by Nature

I'm thrilled to announce that Prompted by Nature has been shortlisted in the podcast category for a Bookshop.org Indie Champion Award. This was completely unexpected and I immediately felt sick when I got the initial email a couple of weeks ago! I wanted to record a quick episode to share this news, and a little about my writing sabbatical, with you. Thank you for listening and supporting this...

Hello, welcome to series 6, episode 5 of the Prompted by Nature podcast.  I’m your host, Helen, and this is the final episode for some time.  I’ve made the difficult decision to put the podcast on ‘indefinite sabbatical’ so that I can be more present and consistent with my writing.  I have a short solo episode coming up to talk about it but you can get all the updates on my Substack newsletter.  J...

Hello!  Welcome series 6 episode 4 of the Prompted by Nature podcast.  I’m Helen, your host and today I’m thrilled to release a conversation I had earlier this week With Marchelle Farrell.  Long-time listeners of the podcast will remember Marchelle from series 2 episode 10 - a conversation we recorded what feels like a lifetime ago, in November 2020. Marchelle has a new book out, Uprooting, and it...

Hello and welcome to your writing prompt for my conversation with Katie Holten.  For this one there are a couple of invitations. The first is to, of course, download Katie’s tree alphabet as a font to your computer and have a play.  It’s really fun turning your words into a forest and seeing that forest come alive on the page. You could write something new, inspired by the letters as trees, or tra...

Welcome to series 6, episode 3 of the Prompted by Nature podcast.  I’m Helen and I’m really happy to be back with this conversation with Katie Holten.  As I mentioned previously, because art and nature are so inextricably linked for me, this week’s action point, should you wish to get involved, is on the episode page for this conversation over on the website. This week we’ll be hearing from the ve...

In my conversation with Katherine, she spoke about creativity as a form of resistance.  This is something that really resonates with me as it kind of underpins everything I do.  When we stay present and connected, think creatively and allow this to guide us through the world, we are actively shaping the world we want to see; not just that but we become active participants in our own individual liv...

Welcome to series 6, episode 2 of the Prompted by Nature.  I’m Helen and I hope this finds you well.  Lots going on on this side of things but I’m going to jump straight into today’s episode. If you enjoy non-fiction at the moment today you may have heard of today’s guest, Katherine May. Katherine is an internationally bestselling author and podcaster living in Whitstable, UK. Her most recent book...

Welcome to your writing prompt for my conversation with Victoria Bennett. Writing prompt, some news and an apology for this episodes tardiness! Thank you for your patience. <3 * When I listened back to the episode with Victoria, what I remember most is her thoughts around the use of time in writing a memoir.  She describes the process as engaging three forms of time:  deep time, long time and m...

Hello and welcome to series 6 of the Prompted by Nature podcast!  Happy Beltane if you’re listening in real time and are celebrating!  I’m Helen and I’m thrilled to be back after a little break.  Not much has changed - read a few books, had some time out in Glastonbury, released this season’s newsletter over on Substack - get subscribed if you’re not already! - and generally had time to write and...

Welcome to your writing prompt for my conversation with LiLi K Bright and the final epsiode of series 5.  This one isn't so much of a writing prompt specifically as it is an invitation to do something different in your creative practice (as the title suggests!).  LiLi talked about the inspiration they gain from attending ecology and naturalist talks and events as well as joining writers hours...

Episode transcription available here:   https://www.promptedbynature.co.uk/podcast-transcripts   Welcome to series 5, episode 14 of the Prompted by Nature podcast. Action point: See episode page on my website. Substack newsletter: Sign up for the free subscription via the link in the show notes or by searching ‘Prompted by Nature’ on the app. If you’d like to go paid, I’m offering this a...

The transcript for this episode can be found here: https://www.promptedbynature.co.uk/podcast-transcripts Hello and welcome to your writing prompt for my conversation with Caro Giles.  So, obviously, this one is going to be moon-related!  I often write with the moon and have created materials helping others to do the same.  About 7 years ago, back when challenges were in, I ran the...

The transcript for this episode can be found here: https://www.promptedbynature.co.uk/podcast-transcripts Action point: donate if you can, to the Turkey/Syria Earthquake fund appeal through the DEC ( www.dec.org.uk ) if you’re in the UK or through the charities working in your country to help. Please ensure they are legitimate, reputable charities before donating. Before I tell you about today’s c...

Welcome to your writing prompt for my conversation with Elin Manon.  This is one of those prompts that doesn’t have to be written - it can be if you’d like, and know that these prompts are always more of creative prompts that you can make of what you will - but could be one to use to inspire a piece of artwork like a collage or painting.  Whatever direction you’d like to take this in is...

Action point:   www.ecotalk.co.uk   Welcome to series 5, episode 11 of the Prompted by Nature. How have you been? Imbolc has just passed here in the UK and I can feel the very tangible promise of the lighter months slowly creeping up. The full snow moon has just passed and has been illuminating the early mornings with an almost solar glare - it’s been so bright! I’m in the midst of plann...

Welcome to your writing prompt for my conversation with Moya Lloyd of the Boundary Way Project. In the conversation, Moya talked about her love of using found objects such as plants, mushroom and pieces from her family history to create art. For this prompt then, the invitation is to get creating using things that already exist. Perhaps you will create a collage out of old books (although I kind o...

Action point: Right to Roam campaign www.righttoroam.org.uk Today on the pod we have the lovely Moya Lloyd of the Boundary Project in Wolverhampton. I first heard about the Boundary Way Project and their work on Instagram during lockdown and have been inspired with their creativity and arts projects ever since. This episode is quite close to my heart due to my work with Benfield Valley Project and...

Linked episodes: 1.10a Jini Reddy, Magic in the Landscape 2.10a Marchelle Farrell, My Garden, My Teacher 4.2a Rebecca Schiller, Earthed 4.7a Benjamin Myers, Writing with the Land in ‘The Perfect Golden Circle’ Hello!  Welcome to your writing prompt for my conversation with Kathryn Aalto.  I got a lot out of the chat with Kathryn and it was lovely to be able to catch up with her and go a...

Welcome to series 5, episode 9 of the Prompted by Nature podcast. I hope this one finds you well.  Action Point: WhenToPlugIn app: https://www.nationalgrid.com/cop26/when-to-plug-in-app Today, we hear from one of my teachers, the wonderful Kathryn Aalto. Kathryn Aalto is an American teacher, designer, speaker, and New York Times best-selling writer of creative nonfiction. For the past twenty-...

Welcome to series 5, episode 8 of the Prompted by Nature podcast.  This episode is a bit of a pep talk and a follow-up to my latest blog post, which you can read here:   https://www.promptedbynature.co.uk/writing-prompts/tending-the-compost I discuss my own thoughts around new year's resolutions and why I use a 'word for the year' instead as well as how I'm using all the fear, doubt and...

Welcome to your writing prompt for my conversation with Rebecca Beattie.  Something Rebecca said really resonated with me while we were speaking and that was her approach to creative blocks.  I’ve done episodes on creative blocks before (links below to previous episodes and blog posts on the website here: https://www.promptedbynature.co.uk/series-five/57-rebecca-beattie-rediscovering-nat...

Welcome to series 5, episode 7 of the Prompted by Nature podcast.  I hope you’re doing well and keeping warm if it’s as cold where you are as it is here.  Well, it’s the final episode of 2022 and I’m very excited that this week’s guest is the one who will help us draw it to a close.  i’ll be taking a short break but will be back to continue series 5 in the new year. This week, I’m s...

Welcome to your writing prompt for my conversation with Angeline Morrison.  A shorter one for you today - either a prompt or just an opportunity to pause for a moment and consider the wider impact of your work and creative practice. In my conversation with Angeline, she discussed how she sees her work as one part of a whole, something that feeds into a greater body of work started generations...

Welcome to series 5, episode 6 of the Prompted by Nature podcast.  THANK YOU for the 10k downloads!! Action point: Go to on my website to see this week's action point and all the links that I suggest.  Onto today’s episode! Angeline Morrison  is a singer, multi-instrumentalist and songwriter who explores traditional song with a deep love, respect and curiosity. Angeline mostly makes...

Welcome to this writing prompt for my conversation with Bella Gonshorovitz.  For this one, it could be done purely for writing but I feel like it’s more of a general prompt for whatever creative practice you want to try at this point. Bella talked a lot about her process in terms of the circular economy structure and the inspiration that this can provide to not just our work in the garden or...