NEWS

On Wednesday March 18^th  I’ll be embarking on a walking, cycling and horse-riding journey around Wales, stopping en route in community venues to perform my new show ‘What the Bees Know’.

In the show I use the story of Bee – regarded as a divine gift to humanity since antiquity but now increasingly threatened by human activity – as a symbol of what we’re doing to the Earth. Blending my own songs, timeless wisdom tales, poetry, prophecy and chat with bees, I light-heartedly get to the heart of the matter (I hope!), showing that what the bees know is what we must all learn if we are to ‘take the greatest stride of soul we ever took’ and rise to the challenge of our epoch-changing times.

The tour is in three parts. First part takes place over the last two weeks of March and includes venues in Croesor, Barmouth, Llanidloes, Llandrindod and Hay-on-Wye. The second part will be over the middle two weeks of May and will include stops in Brecon, Narberth, Cardigan, Aberystwyth, Machynlleth and Harlech. I hope to finish the second stage of the tour with a performance at Blue Sky Café in Bangor on Fri 22nd or Sat 23rd May, so come to see how the show evolves and grows as a result of walking across the songlines of Wales. The final leg of the journey will be a tour of England and Scotland in the autumn – more details on that later. For full information and performance dates go to the EVENTS section of this website.

'RARE AND PRECIOUS EARTH - Songs to Sustain and Restore the World'

launched 29 October

The album was produced by John Lawrence and is a clutch of fine, original eco songs touching on many of the key issues of our time: climate change, consumerism, ecological footprint and rubbish. It also includes a couple of lyrical ballads, visionary tracks and even a love song! It culminates is an extraordinary version of Merlin's ancient prophecy. For full details see my music page, and to sample some of the tracks, click through to Indie Store below or use the player on this site. Alternatively, you can also listen to the full album on http://www.last.fm/music/Eric+Maddern/Rare+and+Precious+Earth ENJOY!

Click here to visit Indiestore

CAE MABON IS NUMBER ONE NATURAL BUILDING PROJECT IN UK!

Sustain Magazine (for architects and builders interested in building sustainably) has rated Cae Mabon as the UK's number one natural building project. Prodessor Tom Woolley - author of 'Natural Building - A Guide to Material Techniques' - was tasked with identifying the top ten natural building projects in the UK. His list included CAT's new WISE building (Machynlleth), Rivergreen Centre (Durham) and the Sheepdrove Eco-Conference Centre (Berkshire).

But his absolute favorite was Cae Mabon, about which he said "Cae Mabon is a Welsh Shangri-La hanging on a steep hillside with stunning views across to Snowdon. It has grown organically over many years as storyteller Eric Maddern inspired various people to help build a mini expo of hand made building methods using straw, cob, timber, thatch and so on. A terrible fire in the Roundhouse simply led to its reconstruction. Built initially without planning permission, officialdom has been won over by its charm and magic."

For more information about Cae Mabon, the beautiful eco-retreat centre in Snowdonia, hit the link below.

Click here to visit the Cae Mabon site

NEXT BOOKS TO BE PUBLISHED IN 2009

My next picturebook for children, The King and the Seed, will be published by Frances Lincoln in 2009. Like The King with Horses Ears and Nail Soup, it's a collaboration with the wonderful artist and illustrator Paul Hess. More news and details about this later.

My last book, Nail Soup, received some lovely reviews. For example in Carousel they said: "Space should be found for this beautifully retold folktale. Paul Hess's illustrations make ordinary househould objects seem magically unreal." In School Library Journal they said: "Maddern uses a storyteller's cadence, and words flow beautifully, begging to be read aloud." Nail Soup will be published in paperback in May.