Name: Vaska

Reading: Underland, Robert Macfarlane

Why did you want to read this? This past year I discovered some beautiful non-fiction books and Underland was one of them. Macfarlane shines a light on places most of us will never have the opportunity to visit and really makes them come alive on the page. He writes beautifully about the underground places themselves, but also explores what the deep, the hidden, means to our cultural imagination, our psychology, and our relationship to the world and to life itself. His chapter on the catacombs in Paris is particularly visceral and unforgettable!

How did you record yourself? This was easier said than done! I had wanted to record myself in a beautiful old churchyard but the wind was too strong and the chatter of other people too loud, so I plumped for my bedroom - which was a challenge as I live next to an unofficial but busy bus station! So it involved me partially hiding under my duvet cover, on the floor, shutters closed, and regularly pausing the tape when the engines got too loud. I think a cheeky seagull and some sirens might have snuck into the recording!