How does it feel to be a hunter who looks like an outsider? The SGWAA memoir explains
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Memoir of a Black British Huntress
Last month the Shooting Girl With An Afro memoir was released, and is available to buy in the SGWAA online shop and on the Lulu publishers online book store.
My book is about living honestly from the land in a world that has forgotten where life, and food, actually comes from - and doing it as someone who looks like me.
Hunting. Foraging. Motherhood. Career. All of these things require a level of skill and patience if you’re going to be successful. But for me it was less about having the ‘skills’ and more about feeling at home; out in the field, within the wider community, within my family - and in my own skin.
There are a lot of schemes out there aimed at children, lots of nice pond dipping excursions, petting zoo visits and falconry display ooh-ing and ahh-ing. But what happens after that? I wrote this book in the hope that it would inspire others to find their own pathway into the wilderness and back to a closer relationship with the land and the food they eat. Society is so far removed from their food nowadays; not just the food itself but all of the processes and people it takes to get it from field to table.
CHAPTERS
The Rabbit
An example of a real situation of what happens when I am interrupted in the middle of a hunting trip by a stranger. There are many uncertainties; are they friend or foe? After much questioning, peacock-ing and stereotyping (from both sides), the winner of the debate is decided by mother nature alone.
City life, country origins
An introduction to my childhood, growing up on a council estate might have been hard, but I remember that in fact, it was a kind of suburbia - and it was where I first learned how to hunt and forage. But being a poor black child in the 1980’s came with other hidden dangers to navigate.
Nothing is given on cold ground
A glimpse into life in Norway, my first true introduction to mountains, farming and country life. But a young pregnant black woman in a tiny mountain village who takes cows for a walk in the fields because she feels sorry for them is not a sight the locals have ever seen.
Shooting & Conservation - my baptism of fire
I challenge you to imagine what a wildfowlers AGM meal looks like. I bet you can't, and neither could I - so when I attended one as a member, not only did I stand out like a sore thumb but I had the ‘curiosity questions’ to deal with. Oh, and the unsolicited man-splaining.
Motherhood & meat
What do you do when your child decides they want the whole family to be vegan. You haven't got a clue about it all but you've got 4 acres of land and a huge veg garden - so no excuses. But now that you're vegan, does it make you perfect? Are you now one of the holier than though earth warriors that you see on TV? Or are you still just a woman, struggling to balance motherhood, a toxic marriage, sustainable living and a failing career…
Am I broken?
My ADHD is not a fad. It's a condition that I have lived with my whole life, but only now come to the realisation that it can be a wonderful, powerful tool. It's not clumsiness. It's not weird. It's not all the things I've been called my whole life. Sharpening my intuition and focus, in fact it's the perfect storm for hunting success.
Here I stand
Many years later hunting and foraging is now my lifestyle, not my hobby. It pays the bills (well, some of them) and it puts nutritious wild food on the table. But what about the platform I have suddenly been thrust upon? As the only black woman in fieldsports wearing her natural afro curls, does that mean I have a responsibility to do more with this influence? How can I shape the future of wildlife management, environmental impact and food culture while I have the chance?
As a writer I have always focused on bringing true stories to life. Whether that's in my own blogs, writing a blog for my website business clients (which could involve writing about anything from accounting to pet products), writing a magazine article or even a television script; I always try to make sure the truth comes first and entertainment second - but the entertainment factor is still high on the priority list.
I have been writing spec scripts for around 8 years, but lying in the background, waiting to be brought to life, were my books. Memoirs, short stories, novels and poems; from dancing to singing and back to writing, the creative world was always my escape.
Now I get to share the story about my new form of escapism - the world of fieldsports and the British countryside. And what a beautiful world she is...
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