Little Toller Books is launching Earth Songs by Jehanne Mehta, a new illustrated volume of 50 contemporary English folk songs by the talented Stroud-based singer-songwriter, inspired by “seasons and legends, landscapes and heartscapes”.
Every song includes melodies, chords and lyrics, and features stunning coloured ink illustrations by acclaimed artist Stu McLellan. The book is intended both as a practical volume for performers and teachers and a beautiful, evocative collection of verse for all who care about nature and our relationship to it.
Jonathon Porritt, renowned sustainability campaigner and former Director of Friends of the Earth has written the foreword, describing the song collection as “wonderfully inspiring”. He will be speaking at the book’s celebration launch on 4th September at St Laurence’s church in Stroud, a venue renowned for its rich and diverse cultural programming. The event will feature live performances of Jehanne’s material by renowned folk artist Johnny Coppin, the Painswick Community choir and others, as well as Jehanne’s own band Earthwards. Stu McLellan’s original artworks will be on display.
The project is a mother-daughter collaboration with a strong nature theme: Jehanne’s daughter Jojo Mehta is co-founder (with legal pioneer the late Polly Higgins) of Stop Ecocide International, an environmental non-profit organisation advocating, with remarkable and growing international success, for recognition of the severest harms to nature (“ecocide”) under criminal law. Jojo has compiled the songbook both as a tribute and practical legacy for her mother (now 83), and as a fundraiser for SEI’s work to legally protect the Earth. Proceeds from the first print run, and all royalties thereafter, will be donated to support this work.
To support this intergenerational project and receive signed copies, priority launch tickets for the 4th September and limited edition prints of the illustrated songs, go to https://www.stopecocide.earth/songbook and choose the appropriate crowdfund reward, standard tickets can be purchased here.
Jehanne Mehta, singer and songwriter, said: “The British folk tradition is truly a cornucopia of riches and it would take lifetimes to learn all there is to be learnt from it. Although I wrote them, I don’t feel these songs belong to me. If, in singing them, you might recognise some of your own experiences reflected back to you and feel your heart warmed by them, then I shall have gone a little way towards achieving what song, and in particular folk song, has done for me.
Jojo Mehta, Co-founder and CEO of Stop Ecocide International, said: “These songs were my childhood soundtrack and the deep thread of care for the Earth that ultimately led me to Polly Higgins and to co-founding Stop Ecocide. This book not only honours and makes available to the world my mother’s remarkable and very singable work, but also traces a deep connection between music, nature, and the urgent need to protect our planet. We hope this book will inspire many to sing and also to join us in our mission to make ecocide an international crime.”
Ian Lawrie KC, husband of the late Polly Higgins, said: “Jehanne’s effortlessly eloquent verses lift one’s spirits with a power echoing that of John Clare, WH Davies, Robert Frost and RS Thomas. Nature gives birth to us, nurtures us and receives us back with a welcome embrace once our journey is complete. ‘Earth Songs’ reflects that journey and it touched my soul.”
