Further down the page: live UK dates • the next online retreat
Hello,
A couple of weeks ago, I talked to Catherine Coldstream, author of Cloistered: My Years as a Nun, and disaster struck. Halfway through the conversation, the tech failed in a spectacular way, and we lost the whole recording. Cue much wailing and gnashing of teeth from me.
But Catherine very kindly offered to re-record, and so we got together last Friday to capture this new conversation. I was worried that it would feel stale and rehearsed a second time around, but I needn’t have worried. Having got to know each other a little, we could relax into a questing, rambling chat about the deep pull that many of us feel towards the quiet and gentle rhythms of the monastic life, and the risks of submitting so completely.
If you’d like to know more about Catherine and her book, check out our reading guide, and please consider buying a copy of the book if you can: it’s out now in the US and the UK. You can listen to the podcast in-app here on Substack or on my podcast feed, and there’s a transcript below.
Take care,
Katherine
✵ UK live appearances coming up:
Saturday 25th May: Cooking, Eating and Feeling Through the Seasons with Angela Clutton, part of the British Library’s Food Season (weekend passes are available and it looks great)
✵ Our next online retreat is on Saturday 8th June, 4 - 7pm UK/11am - 2pm ET / 8am - 11am PT. If you’d like to join us for four soothing gatherings a year, please upgrade to the Retreat Tier.
If you think a friend or loved one would enjoy The Clearing by Katherine May, gift subscriptions are available here | Website | Buy: Enchantment UK /US | Buy: Wintering UK / US | Buy: The Electricity of Every Living Thing UK / US
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Catherine Coldstream on life as a nun