Dartmoor Tors Festival: Martin Shaw – Liturgies Of The Wild: Reshaping Our Stories

Event information

Join Martin Shaw for a compelling journey into the power of myth. In his new book, Liturgies of the Wild, he argues that a we live in a myth-impoverished age, which makes us vulnerable to harm. Drawing on the ‘ancient technologies’ of myths and initiatory rites, Shaw teaches us to read a myth the way it wants to be read, and shows us how to gather and reshape our own thrown-away stories. Most vividly, he shares how these ancient technologies led him—unexpectedly—to Christ, “the True Myth,” by way of a thirty-year journey and a 101-night vigil in a Dartmoor forest.


Martin Shaw is a writer, storyteller and mythologist. He's currently in residence at the Faculty of Divinity, Cambridge and has a large international audience. His last book, Bardskull, was described as “rich and transgressive” in the Sunday Times, and was Book of the Day in the Guardian. A native of Devon, much of his work circles around the relationship between story and place. 

Lucy Cooper is a writer whose work is rooted in mythology, folklore and place. She is the author of The Element Encyclopedia of Fairies, and her work has appeared in various publications including Dark Mountain and Elementum Journal. Recently she walked the Mary Michael Pilgrim Way from her birthplace in Cornwall to her home in Dartmoor, following old trackways between holy wells, churches and stone circles, listening to reconnect with the ancient stories and teachings of the land. 

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This is part of the second Dartmoor Tors Festival, happening at various places around Dartmoor from 30 April – 3 May 2026. Tickets for festival events at Ashburton Arts Centre are all available at wegottickets.com/dartmoortorsfestival2026. All of the festival goings on are listed at dartmoortorsfestival.co.uk.



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