Nature's Genius is published in Italian!!

Can't think of a government in my adult life that has failed to meet the moment like this one.

I think about this poem by Ian Duhig — about Jo Cox, the Labour MP assassinated by a man shouting ‘Britain first’ — every day at the moment. No other contemporary poet has looked so clearly at the political reality of the far right as a minority who must always be appeased

This has absolutely thrilled me!

I had an amazing time @wainwrightprize.bsky.social yesterday! So many inspiring writers and extraordinary books. Congratulations to @guyshrubsole.bsky.social, a hugely deserving winner for conservation writing, and fellow @canongate.co.uk writer @chloedalton.bsky.social for book of the year!

This should be headline news - the implications are horrifying …

North Edinburgh people: if you haven't seen it already, the report on a new tram route is here: consultationhub.edinburgh.gov.uk/sfc/tram-nor... Worryingly, it shows a clear preference for Roseburn over Orchard Brae. If you value the Roseburn path, please respond to the consultation!

The UK government will evacuate nine of the 40+ students in Gaza with scholarship at UK universities. My PhD student Shaimaa isn't included. We must now make sure they help the other students - email your MP today. www.theguardian.com/education/20...

Latest from the Edinburgh Book Festival: Catching up with fellow Edinburgh prof @david-farrier.bsky.social & Alex Riley, both brilliant nature writers, both with new books that celebrate the resiliency and adaptability of nature. Check out: Nature's Genius & Super Natural! @edbookfest.bsky.social

Can't wait to speak with Alex Riley and @calflyn.bsky.social tomorrow @edbookfest.bsky.social about all that makes life extraordinary. Come along!

Necropolitics: “the death-inflicting politics of colonialism…where those in power don’t have to care who lives or dies. The priorities of the colonisers are elsewhere, in land, power and wealth grabs. The colonised are left in conditions where their lives are not even secondary, but irrelevant.”

It was such a thrill to be on stage @edbookfest.bsky.social last night with the next Future Library author, Amitav Ghosh(@amitav.bsky.social)! No other writer is so alert to the living forest and the way forgotten lives endure in the archive. And as gracious in person as you could hope for.

Exciting news!!!!!! Thanks @wainwrightprize.bsky.social!

Update: no one can identify a single person as belonging to a group that The Times says has 130 academic staff. Totally unnamed and likely fictitious academics being quoted by the Daily Express, The Times, the BBC & the Times Higher.

Every strand of this Edinburgh University report could be its own front page. Yes, some of it will be familiar to historians, but this kind of frank public recognition is all too rare. Incredible work by many different scholars.

Durham council is run by fantasists, idiots, and grifters.

Who's going to tell him what 3 degrees of warming will do to Bronte Country www.theguardian.com/commentisfre...

I had a great time chatting to @littleatoms.bsky.social about Nature's Genius - somehow, in 30 minutes we touched on almost the entire book!

Just received news that 27 people have been arrested in Parliament Square under the Terrorism Act 2000 for holding signs saying "I oppose genocide. I support Palestine Action". This is real police state behaviour.

We're delighted to have two books on the @wainwrightprize.bsky.social longlists! Congratulations to @david-farrier.bsky.social for Nature's Genius, a remarkable story of how we shape the lives of animals and plants – and how they shape us, longlisted for the Conservation Writing Prize

I'm thrilled beyond words that Nature's Genius has been long listed for the @wainwrightprize.bsky.social Conservation Writing prize! Congratulations to all the fantastic authors on the list. Sincere thanks to the #wainwright judges and for everyone @canongate.co.uk for supporting the book!

Heard them over north Edinburgh late last night

I'm thrilled to see this fantastic review of Nature's Genius in Literary Review! "Farrier's achievement is to make change feel not just possible but also exciting."

"'It's a Killing Field': IDF Soldiers Ordered to Shoot Deliberately at Unarmed Gazans Waiting for Humanitarian Aid"

Just seen #28yearslater and my main takeaway is: if they walk south past the Angel of the North to meet Ralph Fiennes' character, does that mean the bone temple is in Chester-le-Street?

I had a great time discussing Nature's Genius on The San Francisco Experience podcast open.spotify.com/episode/11om...

Human action (and inaction) is driving evolution. www.theguardian.com/environment/...

A friend is currently on remand for taking part in direct action w/ Palestine Action. They've been held since August, moved around with no notice, treated as liable to escape because they (an artist) sketched their room, had their trial pushed back. They are a political prisoner, not a terrorist.

It's fantastic to see this profile of the amazing Katie Paterson in the NY Times. www.nytimes.com/2025/06/20/a...

I can't wait to chat with Alex Riley and @calflyn.bsky.social about Nature's genius for resilience and transformation, as part of @edbookfest.bsky.social! www.edbookfest.co.uk/the-festival...

It's been a pleasure to be part of this and meet some great writers/lovely human beings!

Read an extract from Nature's Genius on the Encouter Nature app www.encounter-nature.com/features

I wrote about translating animal languages for the Guardian's Big Idea. Read or listen to it here! www.theguardian.com/world/2025/j...

I wrote about translating animal languages for the Guardian's Big Idea. Read or listen to it here! www.theguardian.com/world/2025/j...

I wrote about translating animal language for today's @theguardian.com - taken from a chapter in Nature's Genius

What a publication week for Nature's Genius! I was so lucky to meet amazing audiences in Glasgow, Brighton, London and Edinburgh! Next week I'll be @stanfordstravel.bsky.social in Bristol (Tues) and Leeds @waterstones.bsky.social (Wed). Come along! Tickets here: buythebook.online/natures-genius

A terrific #bookpost day! Thank you to @canongate.co.uk for a finished copy of NATURE'S GENIUS by David Farrier (out on 8 May), whose Footprints was one of my top reads of 2020. Plus my Bookshop order of STAG DANCE by Torrey Peters @serpents-tail.bsky.social arrived -- solidarity with trans women!

Nature's Genius is the remarkable and mind-expanding story of how we shape the lives of animals and plants – and how they shape us – by professor David Farrier, which asks: can we remake the world to be fit for all life to thrive once more? ‘Subtle, sharp-eyed and fascinating’ Robert Macfarlane

Nature's Genius is published today!! Such a thrill to see it in shops. Thanks to all @canongate.co.uk for doing such a beautiful job.

On my way to Brighton to talk about Nature's Genius tonight, & tomorrow evening @theconduitlondon in Covent Gd. Come along to hear how, with evolution's example, we can reimagine our relationship with nature. Both are free; non-Conduit members can register here: share-eu1.hsforms.com/1kHXTYw-pRDi...

One week until Nature's Genius is out! Huge thanks to @robgmacfarlane.bsky.social, @calflyn.bsky.social & Isabella Tree for their kind words. I'll be doing events in Glasgow, Brighton, London, Edinburgh, Bristol, Leeds & St Andrews - come and say hello! Tix here: buythebook.online/natures-genius

"University funding in Scotland is fundamentally no longer fit for purpose and Scotland’s world-class universities are being put at risk and young Scots are being failed as a result" theferret.scot/edinb...

Thanks @fitzcarraldoeds.bsky.social for some amazing book post - by the formidable Claire-Louise Bennett, and @joannapocock.bsky.social whose Surrender was a book I loved in lockdown. Can't wait to take Greyhound's tour of American edgelands.

I have my first event for Nature's Genius tomorrow! It's a pre-launch as pub date is 8 May, but I'd love to see you there -- 6pm at Edinburgh Futures Institute. I'll be chatting to the amazing Hermione Cockburn. efi.ed.ac.uk/event/david-...

Seeing a lot of "Trump ❤️ degrowth, who knew," comments, but--and sorry to be a killjoy--funny as this is, proper degrowth is the opposite of his chaotic, fumbling destruction. It's about fostering abundance and making conditions for all life to thrive, not a nihilistic drive pull things down.

Nature's Genius is out three weeks from today! (8 May) It's about the incredible lessons evolution can teach us about our greatest challenges and I can't wait to share it! I'll be doing events through May - preorder and book tickets here buythebook.online/natures-genius

@frasermacdonald.bsky.social did you find a magic lamp among the seaweed?

Can someone please make a Simon Jenkins pitchbot account?