Nightfaring cover art

Nightfaring

In Search of the Disappearing Darkness

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Nightfaring

By: Megan Eaves-Egenes
Narrated by: Stephanie Cannon
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About this listen

Every year night skies get 10% brighter. Light pollution is erasing the stars.

In Nightfaring, travel writer and ‘dark sky’ advocate Megan Eaves travels the world to better understand our deep connection with the night sky and what we stand to lose when we lose darkness. She explores the environmental consequences of light pollution, which is disrupting the migration patterns of birds as well as our own circadian rhythms. But she’s also interested in the many ways that we have depended on darkness culturally and historically: how indigenous communities like the Maoris in New Zealand have navigated by the stars, and the inspiration that starry skies have provided to artists from Van Gogh to Taylor Swift.

Blending travel writing with history, Nightfaring is a profound and often startling exploration of darkness and the endangered night.
Travel Writing & Commentary

Critic Reviews

'Nightfaring is an invitation to explore how the night sky connects us – to the past, to ourselves, to the planet and to the cosmos. Through rich storytelling and deeply reported histories, Megan leads us on a raw, multisensory journey into the less-trodden nocturnal world. This introspective read is a push to reimagine our relationship to the night ... It's also a reminder that travel, when done well, can be life's greatest teacher' (Stephanie Vermillion, author of 100 Nights of a Lifetime)
'Dark sky advocate Eaves-Egenes . . . tells stories not of the stars but of the night and its people in remote, dark places from Ireland to Italy via Tanzania, Japan and her native New Mexico. Her adventures reveal Western culture as dangerously allergic to darkness — cue the intensifying light pollution in cities — but also how only at night can we reevaluate, reset and renew. There's a deep love of the night sky woven into every sentence, and a powerful lesson for humanity as it fakes a nocturnal existence: only in the stillness of night can we see the light' (Jamie Carter)
'Mixing myth and history with the latest science, Eaves weaves her story with clear, insightful prose, offering an entertaining journey into the darkness that is so vital for life on earth and so easily forgotten. Nightfaring reminds us of all that being in the dark brings alive and allows, what we lose when we overuse artificial light, and the good wildness that makes the night so key to our wellbeing' (Paul Bogard, author of The End of Night )
‘A truly powerful paean to the night sky offering a kaleidoscopic mix of science, adventure, spirituality, psychology and insights into our inner lives and deepest fears' (Caroline Eden, author of Samarkand and Cold Kitchen)
‘From Uzbek observatories to Guaraní fire blessings, Maori star compasses to Irish banshees, Nightfaring is an engaging and illuminating exploration of our relationship with darkness and the night sky. A thoughtful, perceptive and insightful writer, Megan Eaves-Egenes will change the way you look at the stars’ (Shafik Meghji, author of Crossed Off the Map and Small Earthquakes)
'Megan Eaves-Egenes readers on a journey around the world to reveal what we’re collectively missing out on under the influence of artificial light. In captivating scenes that take place in Tanzania, New Zealand, Japan and a variety of other locales, Eaves-Egenes explores the importance of natural darkness for diverse ecosystems – and her own health – as she reminds readers that, even though we’re collectively turning on too many lights, natural darkness is still our shared home' (Leigh Ann Henion, New York Times bestselling author of Night Magic)
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In the spirit of reconciliation, Audible acknowledges the Traditional Custodians of country throughout Australia and their connections to land, sea and community. We pay our respect to their elders past and present and extend that respect to all Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples today.