"I approached the writing through the lens of an unexplored family connection to Lincolnshire; my mother’s side of the family were based there for over 500 years, as far back as we can trace it. My grandmother was the first to move away. Within some of the poems sit two voices, one past, one present.
I find it fascinating how you can feel so connected to a place you’ve never been to, and Nature Calling provided the first opportunity for me to visit the area. I spent a week in Louth. Walking the same paths as people I’d been learning about from family members made me feel very connected to the land, and facilitating a workshop at Hubbard’s Hills, and subsequent online workshops, formed a vital part of my process, connecting to people who know the area well, and who would like to bring landscapes into their own creative processes.
My writing was also created through the lens of my body, in particular my deafness, something which I feel makes me a very visual person, a sense that is often drawn into my choice of words. A thread that ran through this project was access, and enabling as many people as possible to access the Lincolnshire Wolds, whether in person, or remotely. One of my workshops was live captioned by My Clear Text."
Ayesha is a writer and multimedia artist with mixed heritage, using her work to open up safe spaces for conversation. She explores her perception of the world through the lens of her disabilities - she identifies as deaf. Ayesha is new to nature writing and her relationship with the Lincolnshire Wolds is from an unexplored family connection and wanting to question what it means to belong in a place you don’t come from.
