The Draw of the Sea

Winner of the Holyer An Gof Award 2023

Wyl Menmuir's The Draw of the Sea is a beautifully written and deeply moving portrait of the sea and the people whose livelihoods revolve around it, examining the ephemeral but universal pull the sea holds over the human imagination. Since the earliest stages of human development, the sea has fascinated and entranced us. It feeds us, sustaining communities and providing livelihood, but it also holds immense destructive power that threatens to destroy all we have created. It connects us to faraway places, offering the promise of new lands and voyages of discovery, but also shapes our borders, carving divisions between landmasses and eroding the very ground beneath our feet.

In this lyrical meditation on what it is that draws us to the waters' edge, Menmuir tells the stories of the people whose lives revolve around the coastline and all it has to offer. In twelve interlinked chapters, he explores the lives of local fishermen steeped in the rich traditions of a fishing community, the beachcombers who wander the shores in search of the varied objects that wash ashore and the stories they tell, and all number of others who have made their lives around the sea. In the specifics of these livelihoods and their rich histories and traditions, he captures the universal human connection to the ocean's edge, weaving into this seductive tapestry the story of how the sea has beckoned, consoled and restored him.

A meaningful and moving work exploring how we interact with the environment around us and how it comes to shape the course of our lives, The Draw of the Sea is as unmissable as it is compelling, as profound as it is personal. This must-read book will delight anyone familiar with the intimate and powerful pull which the sea holds over us.