The Company of Owls

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In the woods above Polly Atkins home in Grasmere, Cumbria live the tawny owls she calls her neighbours. Each night, they come down to her cottage at dusk, calling out as night falls in particular a trio of owlets she watches grow from fledglings to young adults in 2023.
As the antics of the owl siblings develop their capacity to play, to bicker, to share and to protect they encourage her to think differently about some of the big needs of all our lives: solitude and companionship, care and belonging, rest and retreat.
The other four species of owls that live wild in Cumbria swoop through the pages, including the day-hunting short-eared owl, but as much as anything they highlight the unusual access Atkin has to the tawny owls of Grasmere. And into the frame step questions about all sorts of relationships, from how we feel when in darkness to our entanglement with the digital world and its ability to connect us across continents.
THE COMPANY OF OWLS is a love song to owls in general, and particular and a reflection on what makes them, and us, unique and distinctive. Its a call to find joy in unexpected places and times. It is a lesson in learning to listen to really listen in a world full of noise.

Reviews

A beautiful guide to moving through this world with tender curiosity, joy and reflection Sally Huband, author of Sea Bean

I will be thinking about the owls and the landscape of this book for a long time to come Jessica J. Lee, author of Dispersals

I couldnt put down this warm and comforting, beautiful book Ajay Tegala, author of Wetland Diaries

The author is fortunate in her proximity to [owls], but this touching, gentle offering shows that, given a humble heart and willingness to stand still in Nature and look and listen, you can get closer to owls than youd imagine. Country Life

A poet and writer based in Cumbria, Atkin has long entertained frequent visits from owls to her garden, and sees them as her neighbours. Here, she reveals what they have taught her about life iNews

An elegiac meditation laced with gems of owl lore Saga

Beautifully written and densely observant... There is much food for thought in this wonderful and wholly original book.Mail on Sunday

This gorgeous, dusky hymn to [tawny owls] and the other three species of owl that live wild in Cumbria meditates beautifully on what keeping company with these marvellous birds has taught [Polly] about difference and aloneness and companionship and difficulty. The Bookseller, Editors Choice

A love song to these incredible creatures. Outdoor Swimmer

Reading this book at bedtime has been a gentle companionable pleasure. I looked forward to spending time with Polly and the owls at the end of each day, savouring each chapter and seeking out the book for as long as I could. Moving Mountains

Author Bio

Polly Atkin (FRSL) is a poet and nonfiction writer. She has published three poetry pamphlets and two collections Basic Nest Architecture (Seren: 2017) and Much With Body (Seren: 2021). Her nonfiction includes Recovering Dorothy: The Hidden Life of Dorothy Wordsworth (Saraband: 2021), a Barbellion-longlisted biography of Dorothys later life and illness, and a memoir exploring place, belonging and disability, Some Of Us Just Fall: On Nature and Not Getting Better (Sceptre: 2023). She works as a freelancer from her home in the English Lake District. In 2023 she and her partner took ownership of historic Grasmere bookshop Sam Read Bookseller.