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Julian Hoffman

@julianhoffman.bsky.social

7K followers 2.1K following 870 posts

Writing, nature, people, climate, place. New book: LIFELINES Author of IRREPLACEABLE & THE SMALL HEART OF THINGS Upcoming: RIVER SONG Prespa, Greece. Rep'd by @jmlockhart.bsky.social linktr.ee/jhoffmanprespa

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Julian Hoffman @julianhoffman.bsky.social · May 15

LIFELINES is published today, 25 years after my wife and I arrived in northern Greece with the aim of changing our lives. It's a book about shelter and generosity, borders and brown bears, people and pelicans. It's about how the lifelines of the world hold together the greater home of us all.

A copy of the book LIFELINES stood in a granite rock with the mountains and lakes of Prespa in the background.

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Julian Hoffman @julianhoffman.bsky.social · 19d

Many life forms will adapt, but many won't be able to too I fear. They'll run out of room to go, or be overtaken by events before they can adapt. So yes, the staggering cost of it all...

Julian Hoffman @julianhoffman.bsky.social · 20d

"More than ice is lost when the giants disappear: cultures, societies and entire ecosystems are braided around the glaciers."

@kathillauthor.bsky.social writes about the receding glaciers of the Alps in this excellent and important essay.

www.theguardian.com/environment/...

‘Like walking through time’: as glaciers retreat, new worlds are being created in their wake

As Swiss glaciers melt at an ever-faster rate, new species move in and flourish, but entire ecosystems and an alpine culture can be lost

www.theguardian.com

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Julian Hoffman @julianhoffman.bsky.social · 22d

Ah, that's wonderful to hear, Ron. And I'll certainly make the time to meet up - especially as we passed so close on Corfu last week!!

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Julian Hoffman @julianhoffman.bsky.social · 22d

So excited to be returning to the fabulous @kendalmountainfest.bsky.social to join a wonderful line-up of writers. I'll be in conversation about my new book, LIFELINES, with the brilliant author and biodiversity campaigner Kate Rawles on Nov 22nd.
tickets.kendalmountainfestival.com/schedule/689...

A promotional image for the Kendal Mountain Festival and an event with author Julian Hoffman.

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Julian Hoffman @julianhoffman.bsky.social · 22d

Thank you so much - deeply appreciated!

Reposted by Julian Hoffman

The Delicious Legacy Podcast @deliciouslegacy.bsky.social · 22d

Such a beautiful place and evocative writing!
"I’ve never thought of Prespa as anything but a shared place, where human cultures and wild species come together and co-exist, a place best experienced slowly and with care."

Julian Hoffman @julianhoffman.bsky.social · Aug 6

I wrote about the Prespa lakes region in northern Greece for @theguardian.com today. At the crossroads of three countries and my home for the past quarter of a century, it's a place that continues to surprise me with its wild beauty and rich human cultures.
www.theguardian.com/travel/2025/...

Balkan bounty: the little-known corner of Greece now ripe for walkers and nature tourism

Mountains, butterflies, bears and pelicans are among the natural wonders in the stunning Prespa lakes region, which straddles three countries

www.theguardian.com

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Julian Hoffman @julianhoffman.bsky.social · 23d

It really was!

Julian Hoffman @julianhoffman.bsky.social · 23d

Such a joy and honour to interview the brilliant Dr Lee Durrell for the Corfu Literary Festival. Celebrating the centenary of Gerald Durrell's birth, she generously shared stories of their remarkable life together and her ongoing efforts to protect endangered species throughout the world.

Photo of Lee Durrell and Julian Hoffman taken against a marble wall.

An audience in chairs listening to Lee Durrell at the Corfu Literary Festival.

Lee Durrell reading from the book Myself and Other Animals.

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Julian Hoffman @julianhoffman.bsky.social · Sep 6

It really was a magical evening in the old quarry, vaulted by huge numbers of hirundines as the sun fell away over the lake and then zipped through by dozens of bats as the concert lights drew huge columns of flying insects. And the music was extraordinary.

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Julian Hoffman @julianhoffman.bsky.social · Sep 3

Ha! So powerful isn't it. I joined a workshop with the group during the day when we were all in a fairly small room and it felt like their voices would lift the roof!

Julian Hoffman @julianhoffman.bsky.social · Sep 3

"We lost our corn crops and livestock. But what haunts us is the fear, God forbid, if it rains again."

The climate crisis isn't just about the fires and floods but the lingering fear, uncertainty and trauma experienced.

www.theguardian.com/global-devel...

‘Fear haunts us’: Pakistan’s floods leave mental scars long after waters recede

Shock, panic, guilt and grief grip survivors as mental health experts warn of chronic trauma from repeated exposure to natural disasters

www.theguardian.com

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Julian Hoffman @julianhoffman.bsky.social · Sep 2

You're very welcome - so pleased you enjoyed it!

Julian Hoffman @julianhoffman.bsky.social · Sep 2

An extraordinary evening at the Triethnés Music Festival in the old quarry of Mikrolimni above Lesser Prespa Lake the other night, including the remarkable polyphonic songs of ΧΑΟΝΙA. Their voices carried us across this borderland region in several languages. So powerful, so beautiful.

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Julian Hoffman @julianhoffman.bsky.social · Sep 2

Thank you so much, Margie - that's deeply appreciated! And I'm so pleased you enjoyed the podcast!

Reposted by Julian Hoffman

Alberthe Papma @albertheziningroen.bsky.social · Sep 2

A wonderful listen about making home in community with other-than human beings.

Julian Hoffman @julianhoffman.bsky.social · Sep 1

Such a pleasure recording this podcast for Sense of Place about Lifelines, home and the more-than-human world!
www.senseofplacepod.com/podcast/epis...

A map of the Prespa lakes region shared by Greece, Albania and North Macedonia that appear on the endpapers of my book Lifelines.

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Julian Hoffman @julianhoffman.bsky.social · Sep 2

Thank you so much, Alberthe - so delighted you enjoyed it!

Julian Hoffman @julianhoffman.bsky.social · Sep 1

"I think being a writer is a bit like being a linguistic archaeologist: you have to dig through layers of stories, but also layers of forgettings." ~ Elif Shafak

Wonderful and enlarging coversation between @leaypi.bsky.social and Elif Shafak.

www.theguardian.com/books/2025/a...

‘Literature can be a form of resistance’: Lea Ypi talks to Elif Shafak about writing in the age of demagogues

The Albanian author of Free and the Turkish novelist discuss the rise of populism, censorship – and how today’s conflicts all come from the unresolved trauma of the past

www.theguardian.com

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Julian Hoffman @julianhoffman.bsky.social · Sep 1

Such a pleasure recording this podcast for Sense of Place about Lifelines, home and the more-than-human world!
www.senseofplacepod.com/podcast/epis...

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Julian Hoffman @julianhoffman.bsky.social · Aug 29

Thank you so much for these kind words, David - I'm thrilled that you're enjoying the book! And I'm so pleased that Ioannina is a shared place in seeing lesser kestrels. It's just stunning to see them in such large gatherings over and around the city!

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Julian Hoffman @julianhoffman.bsky.social · Aug 29

“The die-offs we are witnessing in our forests this year may be nature’s final alarm bell – a desperate call for action, cooperation and adaptation in how we live and operate, at the local, regional and global levels."

www.ekathimerini.com/in-depth/127...

Greece’s woodlands in the grips of a silent crisis | eKathimerini.com

Reports of dead trees started coming in from central and southern Greece this spring, with areas that have undergone artificial reforestation proving especially vulnerable.

www.ekathimerini.com

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Julian Hoffman @julianhoffman.bsky.social · Aug 25

Ah, thank you so much for these kind words, Robbie - delighted to hear you're enjoying it!

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Julian Hoffman @julianhoffman.bsky.social · Aug 22

That sounds lovely! Very much the same here, and fortunate to have avoided fires so far too. Strange to hear about such a long time to wait from a UK bookshop, as they should be able to get it for you within a few days rather than weeks!

Julian Hoffman @julianhoffman.bsky.social · Aug 22

Thank you! We are having a very lovely summer, thanks, and hope you are too! Sorry about the long wait for the book - is that from a library or a bookshop, as I think it should generally be available (though the mysteries of the book trade never fail to surprise me!!).

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Julian Hoffman @julianhoffman.bsky.social · Aug 22

This is such a wonderfully generous thing to say, Jo. Many thanks - and I do hope you enjoy the book!

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Julian Hoffman @julianhoffman.bsky.social · Aug 21

Deepest thanks, Annemarie - and so looking forward to speaking later in the year!