Between the Salt and the ASH

Jake Morris-Campbell was born in South Shields in 1988. His collection of poetry Corrigenda for Costafine Town (2021) was longlisted for the RSL Ondaatje Prize. A BBC New Generation Thinker, he regularly appears on Radio 3. Recent commissions include writing for the Lindisfarne Gospels exhibition at The Laing Gallery, Newcastle and for the After Dark Festival at The Glasshouse, Gateshead. He is co-editor of Marratide: Selected Poems of William Martin (2025) and currently works as Teaching Fellow in Creative Writing at Liverpool John Moores University.

• Prologue: first footIntroduction: lights of the northPart I: The sea on sanded feet1 The compass takes its weigh2 Coastline of castles3 Salt pans and sand dunes4 The spine road5 Harvest from the deepTirtha: TynePart II: Stringing Bedes6 Following the Don7 The ash path8 Ghosts of the East End9 What kingdom without common feasting?10 Light moved on11 The big meetingTirtha: WearDavyCodaIndex

'Beautifully crafted.'Robert Colls, The New Statesman‘Jake Morris-Campbell’s beautiful book is a pilgrimage charting his family's Northumbrian heritage. Between the salt and the ash is simultaneously poetic and epic in Morris-Campbell’s sweep of the region’s history, language and landscape. After reading this, you will want nothing more than to take the journey yourself.’Fiona Hill, Senior Fellow at the Brookings Institution and Chancellor of Durham University'A tender Northumbrian camino through England's own land of saints and scholars.'Dan Jackson, author of The Northumbrians'This is a beautiful and significant book. Its blend of history, poetry and travelogue gives a complex and compelling vision of the strange and lovely land of the north. It should be read by us all, wherever we live.'David Almond, author of Skellig'Beautifully written, Between the salt and the ash melds history, industry and memories into a moving portrait of the land between Tyne and Wear.'Brian Groom, author of Northerners: A History'Our heritage isn’t just about mining and nor is this book. The author expertly shows how the region is made up of layers of history, identity, work etc, and the way that sculpture, art, poetry etc can represent the region and its identity.'Peter Sagar, North East Bylines'This is a fabulous book. It is a work of sacramental theology, although the author might not see it that way: it celebrates the past, intensely observes the present, and so points hopefully to the future. It makes me want to go back up north and stay there.'Peter McGeary, Church Times