Paperboats is a Scottish literary zine, formed by a collective of nature writers. The paperboat is a symbol for the current fragile nature of our hopes for climate stability, as well as a campaign tool: over a thousand paperboats have been sent to Scottish MP’s. When they receive one, they will know why and how they must take bold and urgent action for climate and nature. They recently did a call out for poetry or prose for their Earth Day special on the theme of Our Power – Our Planet. You either had to be Scottish to send in work or it had to be based in Scotland. As I’d not long been back from my six week stay on Knoydart, I sat with this for a while, thinking about what element of my trip I could share on this theme.

I decided to write about an unexpected day of tree planting I had been part of, sent in what I’d written, and I was delighted when it was accepted. Click here to read the full poem. Do take the time to read some of the other wonderful contributions also.

Paperboats also has a wonderful podcast, is calling for a fossil fuel non-proliferation treaty and is campaigning for Scotland to become the first Rewilding Nation. It’s a wonderful organisation and I feel really proud to have my work featured in its zine, especially as I’m not a native to this wonderful country north of where I live that occupies a corner of my heart.

Thank you for reading my blog post. Compliment it with reading a couple of poems I had published in journal ‘Dodging the Rain’ in 2024 & a poem I’ve written that has attracted more attention than any other, Lessons in Weariness.

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