Polly Atkin – Some of Us Just Fall
On Nature and Not Getting Better
WithPolly Atkin
In conversation withAnnie Rutherford
On:12th July 2023, 7:00pm - 8:00pm
We're really looking forward to welcoming Polly Atkin to the bookshop for an event to celebrate the publication of her new memoir, Some of Us Just Fall: On Nature and Not Getting Better. This memoir explores the realities of chronic illness within the context of the natural world and the idea of the "nature cure". Atkin will be in conversation with writer and translator Annie Rutherford.
This event will take place in the bookshop with an in-person audience, as well as a livestream for attendees watching from home. There will be a signing after the event.
In-person vouchers can be redeemed on the night of the event against a single copy of Some of Us Just Fall – we will have a list of attendees with vouchers to be redeemed. Please note that only one voucher can be redeemed per book. Livestream vouchers are valid until the day after the event and can be redeemed on our website against a single copy of Some of Us Just Fall.
Please note that we encourage all attendees to wear masks to this event unless exempt.
About Some of Us Just Fall:
After years of unexplained health problems, Polly Atkin's perception of her body was rendered fluid and disjointed. When she was finally diagnosed with two chronic conditions in her thirties, she began to piece together what had been happening to her - all the misdiagnoses, the fractures, the dislocations, the bone-crushing exhaustion, the not being believed. Some of Us Just Fall combines memoir, pathography and nature writing to trace a fascinating journey through illness, a journey which led Polly to her current home in the Lake District, where outdoor swimming is purported to cure all, and where every day she turns to the natural world to help tame her illness.
Polly delves into the history of her two genetic conditions, uncovering how these illnesses were managed (or not) in times gone by and exploring how best to plan for her own future. From medical misogyny and gaslighting, to the illusion of 'the nature cure', this essential, beautiful and deeply personal book examines how we deal with bodies that diverge from the norm, and why this urgently needs to change. This is not a book about getting better.
This is a book about living better with illness.
Please note: Tickets for our events are non-refundable. Professional photography and videography may take place during this event. Thank you for your understanding.
Participants:
Polly Atkin Author
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 Dorothy’s 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), which won the Hunter Davies Lakeland Book of the Year 2024 and has been longlisted for the Wainwright Prize for Nature Writing 2024. 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.
Annie Rutherford Chair
Annie Rutherford makes things with words and champions poetry and translated literature in all its guises. Annie was previously assistant director at StAnza and currently runs the Goethe-Institut Glasgow's library and literary events. She previously co-founded and edited the international literary magazine Far Off Places, and her most recent published translation is Nora Gomringer's poetry collection The Trilogy of Surfaces and Invisibilites. She's currently translating work by Annette von Droste-Hülshoff - one of the only women poets of the 18th and 19th centuries to make it into the German canon. She swims, intermittently.
The venue
The Portobello Bookshop
46 Portobello High Street
Edinburgh
EH15 1DA
Telephone: 0131 629 6756
Website: www.theportobellobookshop.com
Wheelchair Access
We have a ramp at the front of the shop which has a ratio of 1:10 and loading capacity of 300kg, and so should be able to be used by most wheelchair users or those with mobility vehicles. The front doors are fully automated. Our shop interior is designed to allow access throughout for wheelchair users and prams, though please note there is only 700mm wide clearance to access the staff toilet.
Sound
We use a PA system to enhance the audio at our live events. We also have a hearing loop system installed, if you’d like to use our loop system during an event please let us know and we’ll make sure we have it set up and connected to the live audio feed during the event. If you wish to attend an event and require BSL interpretation, please give us a few weeks notice and we’ll do our best to arrange an interpreter.