Culture

Kuartam: a legend

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In the province of Morona-Santiago, around the city of Macas, a legend has always been told about the dangers of behaving disrespectfully towards nature. It is a legend that comes from the Shuar people, who live in the jungle in the southeastern Ecuadorian Amazon. Generally speaking, they are brave and proud of their traditions and of the fact that they are one of a handful of indigenous groups who managed to resist both the colonising missions of the Inca and the Spanish.

Meet Helen Pugh

Helen Pugh is the author of Unsung Women in Somerset, a collection of short stories focussing on real-life and legendary women who lived, loved, worked and struggled in Somerset. She grew up in the county and returned in 2018. Her other works include Intrepid Dudettes of the Inca Empire, an accessible non-fiction historical account of incredible Inca women who lived hundreds of years ago. For children, she has written Jungle-tastic Tales and Inca-tastic Tales, short story anthologies for children based on extensive research into the rainforest and Inca history, respectively, as well as Cuentos incatásticos for Spanish speakers. Her interest in South America and the Incas began in 2006, when she first went to Ecuador. Helen studied Spanish and Italian at university and has a lifelong passion for history, especially that of historical women who made history, but have been sidelined.
Website : http://linktr.ee/helenpugh

Atlantic Rock

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Life’s about being comfortable, isn’t it? You find what makes you happy and you stick with it for the rest of your days.

That’s what Jimmy Stephens thought. Routine was Jimmy’s best mate, until routine found another group of friends. Somehow stranded on the remotest island in the world, Jimmy was forced to make peace with a whole new way of living, and a whole new way of seeing things.

Jimmy’s tale is one of isolation, adaptation and inspiration, challenging the fundamentals of twenty first century life.