Oceans with Tom Appleby. Panellists: Doina Cornell & Deborah Tomkins

Tom Appleby speaks to writers Doina Cornell and Deborah Tomkins about oceans, climate change and the power of writing to explore our relationship with the natural world.

Tom is Head of Governance and Legal Affairs at the Blue Marine Foundation in Bristol and Associate Professor at UWE. He will explore with Doina her two memoirs of sailing with her family to the Arctic and Pacific, journeys almost fifty years apart. Her 2024 book, The Ocean’s Broken Heart, examines the changing landscapes of the sea in the context of climate change and other threats.

Deborah Tomkins founded Bristol Climate Writers in 2017, a network for writers of all genres. She will discuss The WilderPath, her novel about climate change, nature, loss and love. Its protagonist, Rosalie, is trapped in a Cornish cliff cave during a storm, confronting grief, climate anguish and her own survival.

Three distinctive voices meet at the intersection of writing, the sea and our fragile environment.