The wilderness is commonly thought of as an environment that exists in opposition to human culture – a vast geographic ecosystem that has not been significantly altered or influenced by human activity. Precisely because of this, humans tend to idealise it from a distance, relishing a notion of the wilderness that is often limited to a beautiful or sublime setting.
In my book, When I Sing, Mountains Dance, I set myself a challenge to present a piece of land (a region in the Pyrenees) using the voices and perspectives of all who inhabit it or pass through it. People, but also non-human beings, folkloric and mythological characters that take over the telling of the story. The narrative is woven through the speculative voices of a roe deer, a dog, mushrooms, ghosts, water sprites, storm clouds and even a layer of the local geologic strata.
