
My Body is a Meadow
Finding Freedom in the Outdoors
Bethany Handley(Author)
Headline Press
Will be published approx. on 7. May 2026
Book
Hardback
288 pages
978-1-0354-2750-5 (ISBN)
Description
Next spring, the meadow will burst into rhythm again. My body is blooming too. I adopt the gentle cycle of flowering, resting and emerging. For now, I am content breathing as one with the meadow.
Today, nearly one in four people are Disabled in the UK. Public rights of way are blocked in 32,000 places across England and Wales. My Body is a Meadow writes into this troubling landscape. Passionate and political, it delivers a galvanising call for us to rethink how we live among nature and each other. Lyrical and personal, Bethany Handley invites readers to wheel alongside her as she explores ableism, climate justice and what nature means to her.
On this journey, we discover the feral boar of the Forest of Dean and one of the first places in Britain to industrialise; how the metal and rubber of a wheelchair can become just as much a part of your body as skin and bone; why swifts rarely land and how maps tell a story of exclusion. Unearthing parallels between land ownership and privatised healthcare, loss of biodiversity and social marginalisation, My Body is a Meadow explores the lessons nature can teach us about inclusion and interdependence. This is a rallying cry for us to stop gatekeeping nature and work together to make it open to everyone.
Praise for Cling Film:
'Cling Film is a collection that lifts many veils and lets in much-needed light and air' Carol Rumens, Guardian
'Opens our eyes and minds to new ways of seeing and being' Owen Sheers, author of Skirrid Hill
'Be careful, these poems will change the way you see the world' Kim Moore, author of All the Men I Never Married
'For anyone who values life' Joshua Jones, author of Local Fires
'Glorious, necessary reading' Polly Atkin, author of Some of Us Just Fall
'I laughed for an hour alongside Bethany Handley and, while I was laughing, I forgot about my pain' the Cyborg Jillian Weise, author of Common Cyborg
'Breathtakingly raw and beautiful' Connor Allen
Today, nearly one in four people are Disabled in the UK. Public rights of way are blocked in 32,000 places across England and Wales. My Body is a Meadow writes into this troubling landscape. Passionate and political, it delivers a galvanising call for us to rethink how we live among nature and each other. Lyrical and personal, Bethany Handley invites readers to wheel alongside her as she explores ableism, climate justice and what nature means to her.
On this journey, we discover the feral boar of the Forest of Dean and one of the first places in Britain to industrialise; how the metal and rubber of a wheelchair can become just as much a part of your body as skin and bone; why swifts rarely land and how maps tell a story of exclusion. Unearthing parallels between land ownership and privatised healthcare, loss of biodiversity and social marginalisation, My Body is a Meadow explores the lessons nature can teach us about inclusion and interdependence. This is a rallying cry for us to stop gatekeeping nature and work together to make it open to everyone.
Praise for Cling Film:
'Cling Film is a collection that lifts many veils and lets in much-needed light and air' Carol Rumens, Guardian
'Opens our eyes and minds to new ways of seeing and being' Owen Sheers, author of Skirrid Hill
'Be careful, these poems will change the way you see the world' Kim Moore, author of All the Men I Never Married
'For anyone who values life' Joshua Jones, author of Local Fires
'Glorious, necessary reading' Polly Atkin, author of Some of Us Just Fall
'I laughed for an hour alongside Bethany Handley and, while I was laughing, I forgot about my pain' the Cyborg Jillian Weise, author of Common Cyborg
'Breathtakingly raw and beautiful' Connor Allen
More details
Language
English
Place of publication
United Kingdom
Publishing group
Headline Publishing Group
Target group
College/higher education
Professional and scholarly
Product notice
Trade binding
Dimensions
Height: 162 mm
Width: 241 mm
Thickness: 29 mm
Weight
502 gr
ISBN-13
978-1-0354-2750-5 (9781035427505)
Copyright in bibliographic data and cover images is held by Nielsen Book Services Limited or by the publishers or by their respective licensors: all rights reserved.
Schweitzer Classification
Other editions
Additional editions

E-Book
05/2026
Headline Press
€12.99
Available for download
Person
Bethany Handley is an award-winning writer, poet and disability activist from South Wales. Named one of the UK's ten most influential disabled people in politics, law, and media by the Shaw Trust 2024, she campaigns for disability rights and better access to nature. An ambassador for Country Living's Access for All, Wales Coast Path, and Ramblers Cymru, her debut poetry pamphlet Cling Film was published by Seren in 2025. Bethany co-edited Beyond / Tu Hwnt, a ground-breaking bilingual anthology of Welsh Deaf and disabled writers. Her work has been featured by BBC One, BBC Radio 1, BBC Radio 4, the Poetry Foundation, Country Living, The Guardian and more.