Arnolfini bookshop presents: Stephen Ellcock

Stephen Ellcock discusses his new book, Ark, with writer Jade Angeles Fitton.

Featuring more than 450 awe-inspiring images curated by Stephen Ellcock, Ark is a celebration of the living wonders of this planet.

Stephen Ellcock presents his latest curation of amazing images, gathered from a broad range of cultures and eras, depicting living wonders from all five kingdoms of nature. This visual treasury features essays exploring the intricate, life-sustaining relationships that populate nature’s elemental realms of earth, water and air: an essay on the ark's stories by Sarah Perry, and essays on the natural world by tree scientist Harriet Rix, marine biologist Helen Scales and birder Stephen Moss. Together they explore the intricate relationships sustaining nature's realms of earth, water and air, and the threats posed by climate change. Symbols throughout indicate which species are critically endangered or vulnerable, and captions reveal the unique qualities of the creatures shown.

Ark is a celebration of the myriad lifeforms inhabiting our planet and a powerful environmental call to arms. With a foreword by Robert Macfarlane, it is published by Thames and Hudson in October 2026.

Copies of the book will be available to buy at the event.

Stephen Ellcock is a world-renowned archivist, author and visionary who reads the visual world like a language most of us have forgotten. His decade-long quest to build the ultimate virtual museum has captivated over 650,000 followers worldwide, reawakening the eye and restoring the pleasure of seeing. He is also author of Elements, Underworlds, The Cosmic Dance, All Good Things, The Book of Change, England on Fire and The Book of Textiles.

Jade Angeles Fitton is a writer. In a previous life she was an award-winning producer. Jade loves to talk about herself in the third person. Jade’s first book, the hybrid-memoir, Hermit, was published by Penguin Random House in 2023. The Times Literary Supplement called it, ‘Rapturous’. The Sunday Times said it was, ‘Piercingly lyrical’ and ‘beautifully observed.’ Her new book, When The Sky Falls: A Human History of Shooting Stars was published by Batsford Books in September.