One of Paul Celan’s poem begins ‘There was earth inside them and they dug’. In The Woman Who Buried Herself Alys Fowler takes us deeper and deeper into, and under the soil, until there is no longer a separation. This story emerged like a fairy tale told to her during long hours daydreaming whilst weeding, in a sense it is her garden’s own tale which ventures into mythic realms, exploring the seen and unseen, mysteries of science, the animal and the organic in consciousness of life and love.
Alys Fowler is a gardener, whose work can be found in The Guardian, The Observer and Gardens Illustrated. She is the author of ten books, including Hidden Nature, which was shortlisted for the Wainwright Prize for Nature Writing.