Dark Mountain: issue 3

Help us publish our third book of uncivilised writing and art.

The Story

We are Paul Kingsnorth, Dougald Hine and Adrienne Odasso, editors of the third Dark Mountain book.

Over the last two years, with the generous support of many people around the world, we’ve been able to raise the publishing costs of our first two books by pre-selling copies through this site. Now we’re aiming to do the same for Dark Mountain: Book 3.

Three years after the Dark Mountain project began life, our work seems more relevant than ever. As economies crumble and nature rebels, our call for the ‘uncivilising’ of writing, art and culture, and our search for better stories to help us navigate unfolding realities, have taken on, it seems to us, a more urgent note. 

So we’re very excited about this book. Like its two predecessors it will be a beautifully designed hardback, with a specially-commissioned cover and several dozen colour plates, typeset by our artisan friends at Bracketpress and printed on ecologically responsible materials. It will contain our trademark mix of essays, poems, stories, flash fiction, photography, art and the entirely indefinable, all intended to shake up the stories of our civilisation and make space for new stories to emerge. 

The Book

Highlights of the book’s contents include:

• James Hester on the Three Lessons of History;
• Conversations with Dmitri Orlov, Doug and Kris Tompkins and Sajay Samuel; 
• New fiction from Margaret Irish, Nick Hunt, Chris TT, David Kernohan and Gregory Norminton;
• Caspar Henderson on our barely imagined prehistory;
• Andrew Taggart takes apart Descartes in the latest in our ‘myths of civilisation’ series;
• Bridget McKenzie explores orchards and Phil Brachi searches for faeries;
• New poetry from Em Strang, George Roberts, Roselle Angwin, Eleanor Rees and many others;
• Plus: photo essays, stained glass, paintings, illuminated poetry and a unique, specially-commissioned cover.

What We Need & What You Get

As with our previous two books, we are working with Christian Brett at Bracketpress to design and publish the book. To cover his work, the printing costs and the cost of the editorial team, we are looking to raise $9,800 (around £6,100) through pre-orders between now and the end of June.

This is not a call for donations - everyone who contributes will get a copy of the book as soon as it’s published. For $30, we’ll send a copy to you, wherever you are in the world. For $60, we’ll also add your name to the ‘roll of honour’ in the back of the book, if you’d like us to. And anyone who can pledge $150 will get a copy of the book, their name in the roll of honour and a limited edition print of the cover, signed by the artist, Mattias Jones.

Other Ways You Can Help

We’re grateful for any help you can give us in spreading the word about the book.

Here are some suggestions, in case they are relevant:

• post a link to this page on your Facebook, Tumblr or Twitter;
• write a post about Dark Mountain on your blog;
• give us a mention in your organisation’s newsletter.

We are also available for interviews about the book and the project. You can contact us (about that or anything else) by posting a message here, or by emailing info AT dark-mountain DOT net.

If you want to find out more about what the Project is up to, take a look at our new website. 

What people have said about Dark Mountain

‘The Dark Mountain project tells us the things we don’t want to hear, and it is a no-nonsense Zen-like response to the ‘age of ecocide’ that our civilisation is causing.’ - Huffington Post

‘The stimulus of Dark Mountain transports many of us into a deeper paradigm of seeing and being’ - Alastair McIntosh, author of ‘Soil and Soul.’

‘The Dark Mountain Project, whose ideas are spreading rapidly through the environment movement, is worth examining.’  George Monbiot, The Guardian

‘It’s time.’ – Naomi Klein, author of ‘The Shock Doctrine.’

‘A root-and-branch challenge to the foundations of a culture of consumption.’- Boyd Tonkin, The Independent

‘Much in contemporary thought is made up of myths masquerading as facts, and it is refreshing to see these myths clearly identified as such.’ - John Gray, reviewing the Dark Mountain manifesto in the New Statesman

‘Dark Mountain asks us to question the fundamental assumptions of our everyday life.’ - Irish Times

‘Usually we must go to the mountain; very occasionally, the Mountain comes to us.  Dark Mountain is perambulant towards public (un)consciousness.  In the terrain of ecological ideas and challenge, she might turn up just about anywhere.’ - Mario Petrucci, award-winning poet

‘There are aspects of the Dark Mountain manifesto I cannot support. And that is precisely why it is a brilliant manifesto: it is provocative, difficult, troubling, and uneasy, and I salute the spirit of it wholeheartedly, in its untameness, its wilful, searching fury.’  Jay Griffiths, author of ‘Wild’”