Twelve Words for Moss

'A fascinating, subtle and risk-taking book' Robert Macfarlane

A celebration of the unsung hero of the plant world and an immersive journey through the British wetlands

Glowflake, Rocket, Small Skies, Kind Spears, Marilyn . . .

Moss is known as the living carpet but if you look really closely, it contains an irrepressible light. In Twelve Words for Moss, Elizabeth-Jane Burnett highlights this often forgotten but vital foundation of the plant world with her unique blend of poetry, nature writing and memoir.

Making her way through wetlands from Somerset to Country Tyrone, Burnett discovers the hidden vibrancy of these overlooked spaces, renaming her favorite species of moss as she recovers from grieving her father's death, spurred on by the resilience and tenacity of her plant - and human - friends.

Elizabeth-Jane Burnett is a poet whose work explores environmental issues through creative writing. She is the author of The Grassling, an exploration of memory and natural history, as well as Twelve Words for Moss, which was shortlisted for the 2023 Wainwright Prize. Burnett is a contributor to The Guardian's 'Country Diary' column and has also published two poetry collections: Swims, a Sunday Times Poetry Book of the Year, and Of Sea.