Take Me to the River

By Vicky Allan & Jackie Kemp

Immerse yourself in an ocean of great literature. Gasp at the cold with Amy Liptrot. Be transfixed by Iris Murdoch’s monster rising from the waves. Learn how to swim like the frogs with John Muir. Come on, dive in.

A selection of joyful, immersive and life-affirming writing about wild swimming.

From gentle dips in calm waters to fights for survival in stormy seas. From the erotic charge of a streamlined body to moments of revelation amidst the waves . . . Take Me to the River is an anthology not just of wild swimming writing, but of stories of how a jump into deep waters can change us.

Open water swimming plays a pivotal role in many great narratives, taking us on an immersive journey, from Homer’s Odyssey to contemporary poetry and memoirs. There is adventure here and aquatic playfulness. Grief and anguish, too; heartbreaks displaced and healed by watery spaces. Love and desire spark between characters at the edge of the water, as does freedom from constraint and the glorious energy of possibility and hope.

Take Me to the River entices with a dip into the deep sea of words. Slide in.