The Monthly Salon: April
Talk about anything you like
Dear Readers,
Welcome to the April Salon. I don’t have much to report this month. I am deep in the last stretch of my Book of Wild Saints, and it is taking up most of my time and attention. The last few weeks have seen me writing about the lives of Petroc, Anastasia of Padan and Joseph the Hesychast, amongst others. If you don’t know their names - well, that’s one good reason to buy the book when it emerges next year. But first I have to finish it, which is one reason I am quiet here at the moment.
If you’d like to hear me telling some stories of the saints before 2027, you could come along next month to the British Saints Convention in Walsingham, Norfolk. I’ll be giving a talk I’m calling ‘An English Pilgrimage’, in which I’ll be sketching out a modest proposal for a few sites in England whose saints might help revive the spirit of the nation. If I get my act together, I might even do a slide show, which for me is cutting edge technological engagement. Rowan Williams and Martin Shaw will be talking too. Last year it was a really excellent event. If you get yourself a ticket, I can promise you will not regret it.
Also on the menu for me, much later this year, is a very different event, in Florida of all places. The Art of the Tamada, like the British Saints Convention, is raising funds for work I heartily support, but in all other ways it couldn’t be more different. I’m betting it will also be fun, though. You can find out more here.
With that, I must turn my attention back to St Guthlac of Crowland, and his battles with demons in the Anglo-Saxon fens. So it’s over to you, readers, to start a conversation about anything you want to talk about. Don’t be shy.
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Dear Paul, I wish you wouldn't keep buzzing off to Norfolk for these events! We live in Cornwall , it's a considerable schlep to the flat lands of the Saxons and totally unnecessary when Cornwall is just stiff with saints. We can hardly move down here without crossing the footsteps of an early saint or falling down a holy well. Why are you neglecting the beating Celtic heart of ancient England ?
Looking forward to your new book though.
Has anyone else noticed that some of the world's most evil tech companies love to steal names from Tolkien? Palantir and Anduril are the most obvious. And I recently learned about Reflect Orbital, a company that will use mirrors on satellites to change night into day if you pay them to - and they have named their first satellite Earendil-1. I'm sure there are more examples. Tolkien is so dear to me and this makes me want to cry.