A Cumbrian poet and writer is set to discuss her new book which is a 'nocturnal love song' to owls around her Lake District home.

Polly Atkin, who won the Lakeland Book of the Year award for Some of Us Just Fall earlier this year, will be at Bookends' Cakes and Ale Cafe on November 12th ahead of her new release - The Company of Owls.  

The book, which is out on November 7th, sees Polly turn her focus on the tawny owl, the most common species in Britain, which reside in the woods close to her Grasmere home.

"I am no expert in things owls or owlish," she says.  "I just live next to some. Everything I know about my neighbours, the owls, I know through the imperfect lens of my own watching, my own land-locked body, my own heavy head and all it has hoarded over my lifetime.

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"It is knowledge gleaned in fragment, learnt though coincidence and chronic illness. I cannot wait unmoving in the cold or the dark for hours in the hope of a sighting, or carry myself to places on foot far from home or the road or safe paths to seek them out.

"This book is about owls, but it is also about me. My knowledge is casual, accidental, filtered through pop culture and literature and entirely tempered by partiality. Because I love my neighbours, the owls, I love them and I want you to love them too," she said. 

Tickets can be bought for £6, which includes a drink.

A combined ticket for the event and a book is available for £18. 

To find out more, visit https://www.bookscumbria.com/

See more events in Cumbria here. See more events in Cumbria here. (Image: NQ)