Essays & a fortnightly letter
Notes on slow work, written by hand first.
A fortnightly letter about writing, walking and the books on my desk. Essays live here; the newsletter arrives in your inbox every other Sunday.
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The only email I read with a cup of tea, slowly, start to finish.
Ruth, a reader since No. 3
The desk, Hebden Bridge · Notebook no. 31
This issue
No. 47: October, and the light goes.
Three books, one walk to Gibson Mill in the rain, and my mother’s pear cake. Out on Sunday 4 October; every letter starts on paper like the one below.
longhand, n.
/ˈlɒŋhand/
From the desk
Recent essays
Place
Place
6
min read
October, and the light goes
The valley in the first cold week, and why I write earlier in autumn.
Craft
Craft
8
min read
Pencil forgives
Why every first draft I write starts in pencil.
Walking
Walking
11
min read
On walking without a destination
A defence of the aimless walk, and the notes it leaves behind.
Long reads
Pieces to sit down with.
From the notebook
I can type faster than I think. I cannot write faster than I think.
The newsletter
Forty-seven letters, and counting.
Every letter since 2019 is here to read. The newest arrive by email first.
No.
47
October, and the light goes
Three books, one walk, a recipe for pear cake.
No.
46
Pencil forgives
On first drafts, sharp knives and the HB.
No.
45
A fortnight without the laptop
What happened when I wrote only by hand for two weeks.
No.
44
The aimless walk
Turning left or right depending on the wind.
No.
43
Six books, leaning
The autumn reading pile and the one I gave up on.
No.
42
The woman at the bakery
On small towns and being read by your neighbours.
Books
Two books, a third on the way.
On the shelf
What I’m reading, rereading and meaning to read.
Hello
I’m Clara. I write essays about slow work, small places and the long walk home.
I live in Hebden Bridge, at the bottom of a steep valley in West Yorkshire. I’ve written two books and forty-seven letters, most of them first in pencil.
Now
Updated 8 October
Writing
Chapter four of the notebook book. It is going slowly, which is how I know it's working.
Reading
The Peregrine, twenty pages a night, and a field guide to mosses.
Walking
The Calderdale Way, one section a week before the weather turns.
As read in