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Giles Watson

Goodreads Author

Born

in Southampton, The United Kingdom

Website

https://www.lulu.com/spotlight/gileswatson

Genre

Poetry, Fiction, Spirituality

Influences

Emily Dickinson, John Clare, Edward Thomas

Member Since

May 2017

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Born in Southampton, Giles emigrated to Australia in infancy, and lived there for twenty-five years. His later experiences - in County Durham, Buckinghamshire, the Isles of Scilly and Oxfordshire - steeped his writing in British landscapes, history, archaeology, flora and fauna. In addition to poetry and fiction, he has written essays on the folklore of natural history and mediaeval visual culture. He is an avid walker, photographer and amateur naturalist. Much of his work is infused with a love of nature, a fascination for history, and a quiet sense of the spirit of place. He now lives in Albany, Western Australia, and enjoys collaborations with musicians (Kathryn Wheeler, Simone Keane) and artists (Buffarches, John Lincoln and Martin Will Born in Southampton, Giles emigrated to Australia in infancy, and lived there for twenty-five years. His later experiences - in County Durham, Buckinghamshire, the Isles of Scilly and Oxfordshire - steeped his writing in British landscapes, history, archaeology, flora and fauna. In addition to poetry and fiction, he has written essays on the folklore of natural history and mediaeval visual culture. He is an avid walker, photographer and amateur naturalist. Much of his work is infused with a love of nature, a fascination for history, and a quiet sense of the spirit of place. He now lives in Albany, Western Australia, and enjoys collaborations with musicians (Kathryn Wheeler, Simone Keane) and artists (Buffarches, John Lincoln and Martin Williamson). An avid fascination for the interplay between text and image is a trademark of his work. His most recent projects have been the libretto and novel for MIMMA: a Musical of War and Friendship in collaboration with composer Ron Siemiginowski, and a book of lockdown poems, A Glister of Leaves.

Eungedup: A Wetland Summer Diary, a poetic exploration of a wild space in southern Western Australia, and an account of Giles's struggle with fibromyalgia, was published by Fremantle Press in January 2026.

‘This work contains an intimate and urgent message: that we need places like Eungedup to continue to be – we need them as much they need our protection.’ - Nandi Chinna

‘Both a luminous testament to the healing power of place and a homage to the fragile beauty of a cherished landscape.’ - Gail Simmons

‘From caterpillars to kookaburras, reed warblers, frogs, bitterns and tiger snakes, Watson’s intimate evocation of the complexity of one patchwork habitat, his wet, reedy heartland, is a devotional love song to place. Here is a proper ecologist-nature writer embodying the enduring, unbreakable and ferocious attachment we have to the earth’s visceral, complex being. Its thoughtful, tender prose and poems reach deep into the soul. This delightful, affecting book raises the vital importance of the unseen, undervalued yet vibrant places that are the planet’s blood.’ - Miriam Darlington

"He has a wonderful sensibility for the layered British landscape and for a kind of bright darkness."
- Vahni Capildeo

"Giles Watson's subjects and his poems are very much alike—wonders too little known... He writes not only of what he sees, feels, and has tasted... but of the soil that clings to these things—soil composed of tales about them, dense, ancient and complex as peat; history that surrounds them, be they small as a spore or large and unmapped as the insides of a certain tree; reputation fearsome, musty, and beloved. Always, and unusually for one who writes, he stands away from the centre of attention..."
- Anna Tambour
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Giles Watson’s books

Average rating: 4.13 · 48 ratings · 20 reviews · 45 distinct works • Similar authors

	A Witch's Natural History 3.94 avg rating — 18 ratings — published 2013 — 3 editions	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
	Mimma - A Story of War & Friendship 4.75 avg rating — 4 ratings — 2 editions	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
	Eungedup: A Wetland Summer Diary 4.33 avg rating — 3 ratings — 2 editions	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
	A Glister of Leaves it was amazing 5.00 avg rating — 2 ratings — 3 editions	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
	Saints, Birds and Devils: A Mediaeval Treasury it was amazing 5.00 avg rating — 2 ratings	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
	Ten Poems About Butterflies 3.50 avg rating — 2 ratings	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
	The Butcher's Wife it was amazing 5.00 avg rating — 1 rating — published 2013 — 2 editions	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
	The Garden of the Badhbh by Giles Watson (Goodreads Author), Buffarches it was amazing 5.00 avg rating — 1 rating	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
	The Three Dead Kings really liked it 4.00 avg rating — 1 rating	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
	A New Holland Miscellany 0.00 avg rating — 0 ratings — published 2014	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars

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Giles Watson's Blog

We Grow Accustomed to the Dark

We Grow Accustomed to the Dark

He stands at the door and knocks. Last year’s umbels, now brittle plant-skeletons, lean beside it, and stems of almost-leafless ivy have climbed the wood, rootlets clutching at the grain. Above the door, the leaves hang more luxuriant. Stains of rust run down from the nails. The hinges have long iron flanges which hold the boards together. A few green bramble leaves a Read more of this blog post »

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Published on December 19, 2024 18:33 • Tags: darkness, emily-dickinson, poetry

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Giles is Currently Reading

Giles Watson is currently reading

Saving Mona Lisa: The Battle to Protect the Louvre and Its Treasures During World War II

by Gerri Chanel (Goodreads Author)

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Aug 02, 2020 08:46AM

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Giles Watson rated a book it was amazing The Outrun by Amy Liptrot (Goodreads Author)	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
Stylistically exquisite, deeply observant, searingly honest, and ultimately heartwarming: this, of all memoirs, is the one I return to time and again. There are also some absolutely beautiful nature-writing passages here, which make me long to visit ...more
May 08, 2026 12:04AM · like · see review
Giles Watson liked Dianne Wolfer's review of Eungedup: A Wetland Summer Diary: "I loved the meditative feeling of this story, and the overlaps between the author's life and the regeneration of a complex wetland. The words are observant, gentle, and uplifting. One to be savoured. "
Apr 27, 2026 11:49PM · see review

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