Harriet Rix talks to Julian Hight | The Genius of Trees

Our hope is that Consider the Wondrous can help us to rethink our place on the planet, as one remarkable species among so many others. So, it’s fitting that our final event this year should show something as commonplace as trees in a radically different light.

It’s easy to think of trees as noble, beautiful but ultimately passive presences in the landscape. Harriet Rix’s extraordinary book The Genius of Trees tells a different story. Trees have agency, modifying and working with the animals, plants and fungi around them: they manipulate the clouds to produce the climate they like, they shiver rock into fertile soil, they change the very atmosphere.

Harriet Rix has led an extraordinary life – with an education spanning a Biochemistry degree earned at Oxford, to an MPhil in the History and Philosophy of Science, specialising in Ottoman Science, from Cambridge. Her studies led to travel, and work in IED and landmine clearance in the Middle East. The terrible effects of environmental degradation that she witnessed in Iraq prompted her to join the tree sector, and in 2018 she returned to the UK to try to learn about the world of trees in this context.

“This is a story of how tree-ish trees are, and how… they have woven the world into a place of great beauty and extraordinary variety” Harriet Rix

Julian Hight is a tree-obsessive, punk rocker and graphic designer. His new book The Ancient Tree Explorer is a fascinating and sumptuous guide to the most magnificent trees in Britain. On Saturday 19 September at 10am, you can join Julian as he leads us on a tree adventure around Frome.

This event takes place in our venue for the weekend, RISE. So come along early for a late afternoon coffee and cake at the wonderful onsite Rye Bakery and enjoy this final event of our fabulous festival.

This event is part of the Consider the Wondrous | nature, wonder, books & us festival.