After watching David Attenborough's most recent documentary "Extinction: The Facts", Alicia felt compelled to do something more for the natural world, and compiled her debut illustrated wildlife poetry collection "Rain before Rainbows".
"Rain before Rainbows" is a collection of illustrated poems written over 10 years, from childhood to early adulthood.
These poems are about wildlife and the natural world, its beauty and its fragility - and why it's essential we protect it.
"Rain before Rainbows" includes:
- "Leopard" - winner of WWF's "My True Nature" under 18s poetry competition, 2011
- "When the Whale Sang" (illustration) - winner of DSWF's "Human Impact" category and the inaugural Ingrid Beazley Award, 2021
- "When the Whale Sang" - as seen in Creature Conserve's Artist Talks, 2021
- "Paddling" - highly commended in Ripon Grammar School Hullah Poetry Competition, 2020
50% of the profits from the poetry book will go directly to the wildlife hospital Tiggywinkles, to support their valuable conservation work.
Rain before Rainbows elsewhere...
You can read interviews and reviews about Rain before Rainbows on the Oxford Blue with Julia Merican, the Epigram with Jenny Barruol, the WingSearch blog with Barry Madden, and Jenny Barruol's Salamanders and Stories blog.
Rain before Rainbows has been featured on Kate on Conservation's Instagram and Facebook, as well as Tiggywinkles' twitter account, and Ripon Grammar School's website.
There is a blog about my inspiration and the writing process behind Rain before Rainbows on Conservation Optimism's website, and an article about the book in Nature's Gold Magazine Issue 5, Winter 2021. A poem from Rain before Rainbows and a short explanation about the poetry book was published in the Spring 2021 Issue of the British Ecological Society's The Niche.
I was interviewed on BBC Radio York with Georgey Spanswick on 15/02/2021 at 7.55am about Rain before Rainbows. You can listen to it here.
Rain before Rainbows has also been featured in articles in the Yorkshire Times, the Harrogate Informer, York Press, the Northern Echo, the Stray Ferret, the Darlington and Stockton, and the Yorkshire Post.