Eel Pilgrimage Companion Book
A book about eels – and about learning to see the places around us differently.
Created by the Somerset Eel Recovery Project, this beautifully illustrated guidebook grew from an eight-stop Eel Pilgrimage Trail along the South Drain on the Somerset Levels. What began as a way of deepening engagement with a particular habitat has become a book that can be carried anywhere: to a riverbank, wetland, coastline, pond, or any place where the European eel lives.
Written by Emi Ostler, the guide invites readers to slow down, observe, reflect, and encounter landscapes through the remarkable life story of the European eel. Rather than a conventional field guide or scientific manual, it offers activities and reflections exploring movement, transformation, interconnectedness, and our relationships with the more-than-human world.
The book is illustrated with original prints by award-winning painter-printmaker Julia Manning, from her acclaimed Decline of Eels series, created following collaboration with internationally recognised eel expert Andy Don.
Inspired by a creature that crosses oceans and continents, changes form throughout its life, and connects freshwater ecosystems across Europe and North Africa, this is a guide to experiencing place through the lens of the eel.
