Two Rivers Press, 2024

Downland is a unique collaboration celebrating the landscape of the North Wessex Downs as seen through the eyes of artist Anna Dillon and poet Jonathan Davidson. Featuring twenty paintings, this is the first extensive publication in book form of Anna Dillon’s vibrant and colourful work. The artworks are complemented by a series of poems from Jonathan Davidson, inspired both by the paintings and by the landscape. Taken together they form a kind of guidebook in paintings and poetry to the most popular stretch of The Ridgeway National Trail. The book includes a map pinpointing the locations that inspired the paintings and the poems.

‘How welcome is Anna Dillon’s evocative and dazzling interpretation of these extraordinary landscapes. Her attention to form and contour and her audacious palette speaks as clearly and precisely as Davidson’s attentive verse.’ — from the introduction by Maura Dooley

‘With deep, gentle verse, Jonathan Davidson, one of my favourite guides for a poetic ramble, beautifully illuminates Anna Dillon’s bold landscapes. Family, history, time and land come together in this moving artistic guidebook which will delight both those who love The Ridgeway and those ready to explore.’ — Liz Berry