The Snag by Tessa McWatt
How nature helps us navigate and understand grief
Every day, we hear about and experience griefs, large and small, in our families, friendships, communities, and worldwide. The grief of a loved one passing. The grief of a way of life ceasing to exist. The grief of global pandemic, war, climate collapse.
As her mother's dementia advances and she can no longer live independently, Tessa McWatt confronts personal and political losses, and finds herself wandering in a forest asking, how do we grieve? And what can we learn from nature and those whose communities are rooted in nature about not only how to grieve but also how to live?
From the newest seedling to the oldest snag in the forest, there is meaning to be found in every stage of a tree's life, all of which contribute to a thriving forest community. In this forest thinking, Tessa begins to find answers to her questions about how to live (for each other), how to grieve (radically), and how to die (with love and connection).
The Snag is an essential book about living and dancing and singing and praying, even in the face of unimaginable sadness, and in this way, growing together and supporting one another, like the trees in the forest.
(From Random House Canada)
The Snag is available in May 2025.
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Tessa McWatt is the author of several novels and two books for young readers, including Dragons Cry, Vital Signs and Higher Ed. She wrote the memoir Shame on Me, which won the 2020 Bocas Prize for Non-Fiction and was shortlisted for the Hilary Weston Prize and the Governor General's Award. Her fiction has been nominated for the Governor General's Award, the City of Toronto Book Awards, the OCM Bocas Prize and the Society of Authors' Volcano Prize. McWatt is a creative writing professor at the University of East Anglia. Originally from Guyana, she grew up in Canada and now lives in London, England.
Interviews with Tessa McWatt
