"Fabulous."—Dan Richards, author of Holloway "Terrifically strange and thrilling."—Melissa Harrison, author of All Among the Barley "A modern-day bard."—Madeline Miller, author of Circe This is a book of literary activism – an antidote to the shallow thinking that typifies our age. In Courting the Wild Twin , acclaimed scholar, mythologist and author of Smoke Hole and Bardskull , Martin Shaw unravels two ancient European fairy tales concerning the mysterious ‘wild twin’ located deep inside all of us. By reading these tales and becoming storytellers ourselves, he challenges us to confront modern life with purpose, courage, and creativity. Martin summons the reader to the "ragged edge of the dark wood" to seek out this estranged, exiled self – the part we generally shun or ignore to conform to societal norms – and invite it back into our consciousness. If there was something we were meant to do with our few, brief years on Earth, we can be sure that our wild twin is holding the key. After all, stories are our secret weapons – and they might just save us. “Terrifically strange and thrilling. One for all you storytellers.” —Melissa Harrison, author of All Among the Barley “This magical book underlines the ability of storytelling to rewrite reality while functioning as a practical—and highly personal—guide to the rewilding of the self.” —David Keenan, author of For the Good Times “ Courting the Wild Twin revels in the fabulous—the alchemy of story, primaeval nouse and narrative. Shaw is proof of William Blake’s adage that ‘Truth can never be told so as to be understood and not believed.’ A thrilling exploration of ancient ambiguity, this book digs deep into the miraculous mulch of myth.” —Dan Richards, author of Outpost “A book that comprehends the forests of the soul, written with fierce courage and audacious wildness.” —Jay Griffiths, author of Wild “This remarkable, powerful, provocative and timely book is about the same size as your smartphone. Carry it in your other pocket, and every time you reach for your phone, take this out instead. Give your imagination, your activism, your poetic/mythic self some soul food. That’s what I did, and it delighted me every time.” —Rob Hopkins, author of From What Is to What If “Martin Shaw turns words into stories and stories into unpredictable excursions in search of the Wild Twin within each and all. He reveals the importance of this often exiled, yet deeply necessary inner otherness, the very part that holds the secret sense of rapport and essential relatedness that entwines human nature with the heart of Mother Nature.” —Michael Meade, author of Awakening the Soul “ Courting the Wild Twin beckons us to step through the doorway that stories create, and reveals a pathway to awakening our relationship with the world around—and with ourselves.” —Dee Dee Chainey, author of A Treasury of British Folklore Dr Martin Shaw is an acclaimed teacher of myth. Author of the award-winning Mythteller trilogy ( A Branch from the Lightning Tree , Snowy Tower , Scatterlings ), he founded the Oral Tradition and Mythic Life courses at Stanford University, and is director of the Westcountry School of Myth in the UK. He has introduced thousands of people to mythology and how it penetrates modern life. For twenty years Shaw has been a wilderness rites of passage guide, working with at-risk youth, those who are unwell, returning veterans as well as many women and men seeking a deeper life. His translations of Gaelic poetry and folklore (with Tony Hoagland) have been published in Orion magazine, Poetry International , Kenyon Review , Poetry magazine and Mississippi Review . Shaw’s most recent books include The Night Wages , Cinderbiter , Wolf Milk , Courting the Wild Twin and his Lorca translations, Courting the Dawn (with Stephan Harding). His essay and conversation with Ai Weiwei on myth and migration was released by the Marciano Art Foundation. From "The Condition of Wondering": The wild twin is not unique to me, you have one, everyone has one. That's the message from the old stories. That the day you were born a twin was thrown out the window, sent into exile. That it wanders the woods and the prairies and the cities, lonely in its whole body for you. It rooms in abandoned houses in south Chicago. Someone saw her once on a Dorset beach in winter. They are always asking after you. ...I believe in the labour of becoming a human we have to earnestly search this character out, as it has something crucial for you with it. It has your life's purpose tucked up in its pocket. If there was something you were here to do in these few, brief years, you can be sure that the wild twin is holding the key. Wildness attracts everybody, but appears to be in short supply. Not feral, not hooligan, not brawling, but the regal wild. The sophisticated wild. So you should be gathering by now that this book is about locating your long abandoned tw