Elmley Sound Space

Elmley's very own Gareth Fulton sits down with Nicola Chester and Talullah Brennan to discuss all things Farming & Ecology. This episode was recorded live at Caught by the River: Weekend at Elmley . The weekend brought together writers, producers, composers and creatives, the series explores how landscape, sound and storytelling intersect.

Expanding on her far-reaching work on community spaces, author Emma Warren considers our need for collective community space and action in a time of tech billionaires and the far right. Make Some Space for Resistance. Emma’s book Up the Youth Club: Illuminating a Hidden History (Faber, 2025) was named an Irish Times read of the year. Dance Your Way Home (2023) was a Guardian book of the year and formed the basis of last year’s summer season at the Southbank Centre. Emma is also the author of Document Your Culture (Sweet Machine, 2020), Steam Down (Rough Trade Books, 2019), and Make Some Space (Sweet Machine, 2019). A dual citizen of Ireland and the UK, her monthly radio show on Worldwide FM ran for six years. Set within the vast, open landscape of Elmley Nature Reserve, Caught by the River: Weekend at Elmley brings together some of the most distinctive voices in writing, music and sound. These recordings explore the deep connections between creativity, environment and experience.

Rob St John and Tallulah Brennan discuss Rob’s recent project Are You Lost?, and what happens when artists connect with community in a meaningful way. Are You Lost? Community and Nature in the Forest of Bowland and Beyond. Rob is an artist and writer based in rural Lancashire. His practice is focused on the blurrings of nature and culture in contemporary landscapes. He works primarily across installation, sound, moving image and text. His work, usually based on slow periods of fieldwork and socially-engaged practice, has been shown/heard at Tate Modern, Victoria and Albert Museum, The Barbican, The British Museum, The National Gallery, Tramway Glasgow, The Royal Geographical Society, Edinburgh Festival Fringe, The British Textile Biennial, and many others. He has variously produced, edited and contributed to numerous publications, both artistic and academic. Set within the vast, open landscape of Elmley Nature Reserve, Caught by the River: Weekend at Elmley brings together some of the most distinctive voices in writing, music and sound. These recordings explore the deep connections between creativity, environment and experience.

Lamine — plant shop owner, and one half of plant and fungi biosonification duo Plants Can Dance — demonstrates how music can be made from plants’ biorhythms, using specimens collected from the Elmley site. Set within the vast, open landscape of Elmley Nature Reserve, Caught by the River: Weekend at Elmley brings together some of the most distinctive voices in writing, music and sound. These recordings explore the deep connections between creativity, environment and experience.

Off the back of his recent book We Came By Sea (Little Toller, 2025), Horatio Clare and Tallulah discuss human and humane approaches to people caught up in the ‘small boats’ crisis. We Came By Sea: Horatio Clare in conversation with Tallulah Brennan. Horatio is a Welsh writer and broadcaster. His acclaimed memoirs, travel and children’s books include Running for the Hills (Somerset Maugham Award), A Single Swallow , Down to the Sea in Ships (Stanford Dolman Award), and Aubrey and the Terrible Yoot (Branford Boase Award), and the ‘game-changing’ Heavy Light – Daily Telegraph. Horatio presents Is Psychiatry Working? on BBC Radio 4 and writes regularly for the international press. He also delivers training to NHS intervention teams and lectures in non-fiction at the University of Manchester. Set within the vast, open landscape of Elmley Nature Reserve, Caught by the River: Weekend at Elmley brings together some of the most distinctive voices in writing, music and sound. These recordings explore the deep connections between creativity, environment and experience.

Set within the vast, open landscape of Elmley Nature Reserve, Caught by the River: Weekend at Elmley brings together some of the most distinctive voices in writing, music and sound. These recordings explore the deep connections between creativity, environment and experience. A special weekend at Elmley brought together music, literature, and nature. Friday featured Clémentine March and a headline set from Modern Nature, while Saturday shared conversations with writers including Horatio Clare and Zakia Sewell, followed by live music spanning ambient, experimental, and DJ sets. Alongside performances, the event included workshops, film screenings, guided tours, and opportunities to explore the reserve’s wildlife and landscapes. Listen to the podcast to hear conversations with Horatio Clare and Zakia Sewell.

Writers, Brian Dillon, Sue Stuart-Smith and Noreen Masud spend time on the reserve and reflect on the landscape, geography and location of Elmley not only as something exterior but also on the interior experience of inhabiting the marshland. Chaired by Tom Morton *Tom Morton is a writer and curator based in Cambridge, UK. He is a frequent contributor to frieze and ArtReview , among other titles. In Summer 2026 he will curate the group exhibition 'You Must Change Your Life' at Grimm, New York.

Introduction to the Writer's Roundtable discussion 'Porous Borders' in which Sue Stuart-Smith, Brian Dillon and Noreen Masud explore themes relating to landscape and the human experience of nature and change. Chaired by Tom Morton.