Due to the death of a beloved colleague, this has been a difficult year for Dark Mountain. We are asking for your support to help keep the project running as we adapt to new circumstances.

The sudden and unexpected death of Mark Watson has had a profound effect on our organisation. Mark was our distribution and subscriptions manager, and a key figure behind the scenes. He was also life partner to our co-director Charlotte Du Cann and a dear friend to the rest of us.

Small projects are vulnerable to the loss of a crucial team member, and they rarely have the resources for organised transitions, for recruitment or training, for ‘crisis management’. For now, we remain committed to the work, steadfastly holding to the notion that there’s more to life than profit margins, and an editorial team is already in place to begin shaping our next anthology, Dark Ocean, which will be published in the autumn.

If you’ve read our books or website, attended our events, forged friendships or collaborations through our network – if Dark Mountain matters to you – then we’d be grateful for your help. , The money raised through this crowdfunder will be used to alleviate the financial strain on the project as we begin to regain our balance after Mark’s death. Specifically, it will ensure that funds are in place to publish the books we have in the pipeline, and to cover additional costs as we re-configure the day-to-day running of the project. Your contributions, large or small, will be most gratefully received.

With thanks from all the Dark Mountain team.

(Image credit: Stepping Out by Bruce Hooke)