News Archives ~ Page 2 of 5 ~ Cista Mystica Press

A Glimpse of the Library: Martin Shaw’s 2021 Reads

Martin was recently asked to share a handful of the books he was reading in 2021. For any of us book lovers contemplating what to delve in to for the coming year, here's a glimpse of the reading pile... "The Norton Anthology crackles and bangs with word-magic, devastating on occasion. Submission by Houllebecq is a prophetic tale for middle-aged professorial types getting lost in the passions of the world. She Who Is lovingly and dynamically places Sophia back in her rightful place within Christianity. The Interior Castle is

A Glimpse of the Library: Martin Shaw’s 2021 Readslucy2022-01-13T19:46:07+00:00

Tristan & Isolde, launching February 2022

Cista Mystica is delighted to announce the release of a new series of books, starting February 2022 with Martin Shaw’s version of Tristan and Isolde. This is the first volume from a major body of work Shaw has been working on over the past few years. From the primordial caves of antiquity and up through the pagan imagination and Christian mysticism, Shaw wanders centuries, stories and ideas that reconsecrate our relationship to a living earth. Based within the Celtic fringe of Britain, Tristan and Isolde is a standalone

Tristan & Isolde, launching February 2022lucy2022-01-08T09:32:12+00:00

The Hidden Country

New Year message from Dr Martin Shaw: Joe Strummer once told me not to lose a sense of the heroic. Not in some overbearing, strutting, macho manner, but in a quieter, more vocational register. That certain beautiful things needed defending, and that itself was an organising principle in the scattergun chaos of these times. That you figured out what you stood for. You set free a little morality but held back on the judgement. I’m not someone that peddles in despair or stirs up disorder and claims it

The Hidden Countrytina2022-01-03T18:46:30+00:00

Smoke Hole Sessions – Martin Shaw podcasts

Author and master storyteller Martin Shaw brings us the Smoke Hole Sessions – a series of vital conversations with inspirational people, in the hope that in the crackle of the thinking, the fire of the language, the visioning and the wildness of the exchanges, we may find breadcrumbs that lead us out of the forest again, and into a deeper life. Inspired by his new book Smoke Hole, Martin speaks to some of today’s most admired writers, musicians, comedians, activists and more about their own work and

Smoke Hole Sessions – Martin Shaw podcastslucy2021-12-08T10:39:14+00:00

BARDSKULL: A second glimpse, plus new Wolf Milk merchandise just in

Bardskull: a second glimpse Dr Martin Shaw has released a tantalising second glimpse of his latest book Bardskull, sharing a reading of an 11-minute section of the book as it unfolds. The wild words just recorded are a taster of this powerful fusion of memoir and myth, scheduled for publication in 2022 by Unbound Books, which has launched a funding project to get it completed and to press. Bardskull is the record of three journeys made in the year before Martin turned fifty - for each, he walks

BARDSKULL: A second glimpse, plus new Wolf Milk merchandise just inlucy2021-11-20T08:43:50+00:00

BARDSKULL: Audio sneak preview

Bardskull: a sneak preview As the funding of Dr Martin Shaw's brand new book Bardskull hits 61 per cent from 181 supporters, he has released a recording to give a little glimpse of what awaits. The recording is the story of Gawain and the Green Knight, told by a Hare hidden in Gawain's saddlebag. Bardskull, a powerful fusion of memoir and myth, is the record of three journeys made in the year before Martin turned fifty. For each, he walks alone into a forest in the heart of

BARDSKULL: Audio sneak previewlucy2021-11-03T11:58:02+00:00

Beautiful Learning: New Martin Shaw live audio

Beautiful Learning: New Martin Shaw live audio Recorded live over two days this summer, Beautiful Learning: Oral Thought & Culture-Making is a deep dive into Celtic stories and philosophy. The event, which took place on Dartmoor in Devon (UK) in July, included tellings of Cinderbiter (from the Hebrides) and Irish story The Birth of Ossian, along with a very rare rendition of the Invasion Tales of Erin and the Arrival of the Tuatha De Danann (Irish). The live recording (available as MP3 downloadable files) covers the gathering as

Beautiful Learning: New Martin Shaw live audiolucy2021-09-30T10:08:55+00:00

Bardskull: A remarkable journey

Bardskull: a remarkable journey A brand new collaboration between Martin Shaw and Unbound Books sees the unveiling of a fund raising project that will help finish Martin's latest book, a work unlike anything he has written before. Bardskull, a powerful fusion of memoir and myth, is the record of three journeys made in the year before he turned fifty. This is not a book about myth or story. It is a sequence of incantations and a series of battles. For each of the three journeys, Martin walks alone

Bardskull: A remarkable journeylucy2021-09-22T11:15:47+00:00

Lightning Tree: New interview marks 10 years

Lightning Tree: New interview marks 10 years Cista Mystica is celebrating ten years since the publication of Martin Shaw's first book A Branch From The Lightning Tree, with an in depth interview going right to the heart of how the books have evolved over the last decade. In the 50-minute interview, which can be heard on Soundcloud here, Martin reveals how a conversation with musician Joe Strummer from The Clash sowed the seeds for the book many years before. He explains: "I met him once at a party

Lightning Tree: New interview marks 10 yearslucy2021-12-08T10:17:01+00:00

A Hut at the Edge of the Village: new John Moriarty book launch

A Hut at the Edge of the Village A new collection of John Moriarty’s writings, edited by Dr Martin Shaw, has been launched with a lively online discussion about the Irish philosopher described as 'one of Ireland's greatest secrets'. Martin was joined by writer and documentary-maker Manchán Magan, author of the rip-roaring Thirty-Two Words for Field, for the launch of A Hut at the Edge of the Village. Manchán describes Martin's introductions to John's work as having the same 'wildness, boldness and vivacity as Moriarty's writings'. The recording

A Hut at the Edge of the Village: new John Moriarty book launchlucy2021-07-06T10:53:37+00:00

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