News Archives ~ Page 3 of 5 ~ Cista Mystica Press

Smoke Hole Sessions: new podcast series hosted by Martin Shaw

Smoke Hole Sessions: a new series of podcasts hosted by Martin Shaw Renowned storyteller and author Martin Shaw and book publishers Chelsea Green UK have teamed up to create a new long-form conversation podcast inspired by Shaw’s newest book Smoke Hole: Looking to the Wild in the Time of the Spyglass. The ‘Smoke Hole Sessions’ is a series of vital conversations with inspirational writers, musicians, comedians, activists and more, delving into their work and what the last year has meant to them. Guests will include actor Sir Mark

Smoke Hole Sessions: new podcast series hosted by Martin Shawlucy2021-05-10T16:25:20+00:00

New audio + literary festival appearances

Brand new audio: The Birth of OssianThe first portion of an ongoing work Adventures in the Deep Interior, from Martin Shaw and John Matthias, is now available as a downloadable MP3 audio.This is a new reading of the ancient Irish story The Birth of Ossian, recorded by the banks of the river Dart in Devon, far west of Britain. Adventures in the Deep Interior is a collaborative work: John a violinist (Radiohead/Coldcut), Martin a storyteller. No rehearsal, little second guessing, frequently recorded in a wild place. This recording

New audio + literary festival appearanceslucy2021-04-29T15:48:36+00:00

Smoke Hole: Sneak preview video released

Smoke Hole:sneak preview video released Dr Martin Shaw has recorded a short video from his Dartmoor cottage about his latest book Smoke Hole: Looking to the Wild in the Time of the Spyglass The book, due to be released by Chelsea Green in May and available now for pre-order from Cista Mystica, was written over lockdown and gives us, says Martin, "a very ancient way of looking at a modern predicament, the situation we have all found ourselves in over the last year."This new little video just recorded

Smoke Hole: Sneak preview video releasedlucy2021-03-31T12:12:17+00:00

New books and limited edition t-shirt

New book: Red Bead Woman Acclaimed scholar and mythteller Dr Martin Shaw has committed to writing this jewel of a tale from the Taiga of Siberia. For the last ten years he has followed faithfully wherever this story has wished to take him. And it is only now, after hundreds of oral tellings, that he was put it into the written word. And alongside this story and commentary are brand new drawings - scattered like seed throughout. This book depicts an ancient story for troubled times, beginning with

New books and limited edition t-shirtlucy2020-11-30T16:37:23+00:00

Two Roads: The Pastoral & Prophetic

Where Two Roads Meet: Interview with Martin Shaw Watch All Those Barbarians video Watch Wolferland video

Two Roads: The Pastoral & Propheticlucy2020-08-14T03:13:20+00:00

First signed copies of Courting the Wild Twin sent out

"I've been signing the first orders and leaving them in a rose garden," says Martin Shaw, who is on lockdown at his Dartmoor cottage in the UK. "My friend Michael Martin then collects them and they get out to the world. It's good to see his distant but joyful face! "I want to thank you for supporting Cista Mystica, my small press. We have a major plan of action to be announced soon. In the meantime, please enjoy some free audio here on my website, and consider having

First signed copies of Courting the Wild Twin sent outtina2020-08-14T03:14:30+00:00

Keeping the smoke hole open: seek vigil not isolation

In Siberian myth, when you want to hurt someone, you crawl into their tent and close the smoke hole. That way God can’t see them. Close the smoke hole and you break connection to the divine world. Mountains, rivers, trees. Close the smoke hole and we become mad. Close the smoke hole and we are possessed by ourselves and only ourselves. Close the smoke hole and you have only your neurosis for company. Well, enough of that. Really, c’mon. We’re grown ups. Let’s take a breath. We may

Keeping the smoke hole open: seek vigil not isolationtina2020-03-17T16:26:28+00:00

East Anglia sell out: final Into the Marvellous tour

Martin Shaw was in conversation with the Grand Dame of Painting, Maggi Hambling at the Aldeburgh Poetry Festival on November 8. Says Martin: "I Loved every minute of it. A real pirate queen of the deep sea, way out from land." It was then on to Cambridge for an afternoon and evening hosted by the Cambridge Storytellers - The Storyteller and the Shaman. Tickets were in great demand and it was another sell out success. This was the final leg of the UK Into the Marvellous Tour.

East Anglia sell out: final Into the Marvellous tourtina2019-11-18T15:54:45+00:00

Taking the Snakes Back to Ireland: sell-out events and a secret book

A magical wild week in Ireland filled with poetry, story and music saw all events sold out and an article in the Irish Times. And as he travelled across Ireland, Martin left 50 copies of his latest book Bardskull, an edition that can’t be bought with no ISBN number, in copses, under stones, by raggedy little wells, in shopping centres, taverns and rivers - each copy a snake attempting to return to Ireland. Says Martin: “There’s older ways to enter Ireland than ferry tickets or passport waggles,

Taking the Snakes Back to Ireland: sell-out events and a secret booktina2019-10-11T14:34:42+00:00

Wolf Milk: first copies signed and posted

The first few hundred copies of Wolf Milk: Chthonic Memory in the Deep Wild, Dr Martin Shaw’s latest book about wilderness rites of passage, have been posted out by the team at Cista Mystica Press. The pre-ordered copies have all been personally signed by the author and are making their way to destinations all over the world. This book offers Martin’s reflections on 20 years of leading vigils in the wilderness, a way for modern people to enter an ancient ceremony through ‘myth, poetics and hard-won brooding’. Billl

Wolf Milk: first copies signed and postedtina2019-09-02T20:05:50+00:00

Title