Author Description

From ancient oyster farms, rare scorpions and swarming bees, to exotic plant-life, rooftop orchards, and foraging by roadside and seaside, Luke Dixon takes us on a journey along the intersections of the human and the wild from the heart of London to the edges of the sea. We meet the chimney sweeps of Brixton, go swarm collecting in Hatton Garden, are taken on a tour of London through unexpected places (from unnoticed rooftops and forgotten waterways to a secret garden in the Bank of England), and encounter the creatures that inhabit them. The book explores beekeeping in the city from earliest times to the present day, goes on an expedition in search of a rare scorpion, and journeys down the Thames' Estuary in search of Joseph Conrad, Charles Dickens, oyster beds, shipwrecks and shifting sands.This is a delightful and unusual piece of writing about the natural world.Luke Dixon is a writer, theatre maker and beekeeper.Luke's work as a theatre director has embraced Love and the Revolution with the Berliner Ensemble, The Golem in Prague and Bratislava, Age of the Saints in Dublin, UK productions of Noël Coward's Brief Encounter, Jonson's Bartholomew Fair, and in London the devised site specific pieces Singing the Body Electric (Serpentine Gallery) and It's a Wonderful Life (Marylebone Station). For twenty years he was artistic director of the international touring company Theatre Nomad creating shows on every continent. In the summer months Luke escapes from the theatre and looks after bees in places as diverse as The London College of Fashion, London School of Economics, Ted Baker, The Three Stags Pub, Greenpeace, Coram's Fields, Kensington Palace and The Natural History Museum where he is resident beekeeper.