Mark Cocker: The Nature of Seeing

The author of 'Crow Country' joins us in Aylsham to share the wonders of paying close attention to nature. We’re delighted to welcome Mark Cocker - celebrated naturalist whose fourteen books include works of biography, history, literary criticism and memoir. Mark will be discussing his latest book: The Nature of Seeing: Finding Wonder in the Living World, which encourages us to bear witness to the many layered glory of the natural world. What does it mean to truly see the natural world? The Nature of Seeing is a celebration of the art and practice of paying close attention. Whether it is the sight of moonlight across a bedroom floor, or an owl as it hunts, or waxcap fungi that erupt across the fields overnight, Mark Cocker encourages us to reclaim our innate gift for wonder and to see the living world in all its infinite detail and mystery. Through a series of diary entries describing his encounters with the natural world, he interrogates how we see and how it affects us at the most profound levels. In precise and lyrical prose, he shows us that seeing is a creative act that can both transform us and change the world we share. Revelatory and profound, The Nature of Seeing is the culmination of a lifetime's love affair with the simple act of looking and all that it reveals. Mark will be in conversation with celebrated author and President of the Norfolk Wildlife Trust, Patrick Barkham.