INTRODUCTION AND WELCOME
I've been around a long time and done lots of things, mostly good I hope but probably not all. They’ve included Zoologist (Glasgow University - PhD re-establishing Chough in England), Naturalist, Conservationist, Badger campaigner, Writer, Illustrator, Cinema projectionist, Primary School teacher, FE lecturer, Cricket coach and Biker (ret.) ...
I think only my PhD was as demanding as painting: the toughest things I've done. Direct expressionist painting is very tiring. They are raw and deliberately unpolished so I use a lot of salvaged material for supports and frames. But for me good art reflects the human condition, our relationship with the natural world and each other.
As with visual art, so with writing. Poetry over the last few years has become extremely important to me; I do not try to publish it, wanting to keep it as pure and honest as I can. I am though an experienced (some might say ‘old’) author of a dozen books and ~100 articles including the recently republished Fate of the Badger.
Since then, I've finished a 200k trilogy (A Wilderness of Secrets). These are somewhat ‘dark green’ adventures for grown-ups. 'The Children Who Wouldn’t...' was published in 2013 but I’ve re-worked and re-named it as Trespassers in Their Own Land. The two sequels are Darkness Under the Mountain (set in the Lake District), and The Sort of Girl Things Happen To - which returns, but in winter, to the Isles of Scilly, home of the first. Two of these are based on real life situations. They are pan-generational, seeking the child in the adult, and the adult in the child: the intelligent 11yr old (which is more or less how I see myself), and the imaginative adult.
Richard Meyer is an artist, author and naturalist living and working in Devon, England. Fire-raven Writing was founded in 2015 by a small band of enthusiasts to publish the second edition of Richard’s book, The Fate of the Badger, the proceeds from which help fund badger protection initiatives in the UK. This website features all of Richard’s writing, including his books, poetry and research.
