The Vanishing

'Extinction Cabinet' by Nicholas Kahn & Richard Selesnick. From ‘Truppe Fledermaus: 100 Stories of the Drowning World'.

We are living in an age of loss: the sixth mass extinction. Following the shocking report that the planet has lost half its wildlife in the past 40 years, we bring you ‘The Vanishing’. In this section we seek responses not only to extinction – the deaths of entire species – but to the quieter extirpations, losses and disappearances that are steadily stripping our world of its complexity and beauty. How do we, as writers and artists, stay human during such times?

The Lestrygonians

Gregory Norminton

1st May, 2023

In our fourth taster from our new issue, Dark Kitchen:, novelist Gregory Norminton serves up a deliciously dark short story about an exclusive dining club that is soon to have a taste of its own medicine. Menu illustrated by Graeme Walker.

Extinction is Loneliness

Alexa Firmenich

6th July, 2022

Alexa Firmenich plunges us into the Earth's 'staggering bedlam' of complex and symbiotic relationships and asks what happens when they disappear?

The Vanishing

Beast Dreaming

Nicholas

25th August, 2021

Biologist Nicholas Wilkinson had never seen a living saola. And then the dilemma about saving this endangered antelope from extinction came into his dreams.

Other Kingdoms The Vanishing

Will the Whales Inherit the Earth?

Rupert Read

7th April, 2021

For The Vanishing series, Rupert Read considers the future of human societies , following in the wake of whales. With artworks by Angela Cockayne.

Other Kingdoms Sea-change The Vanishing

The Rhino More Fortunate

Kim Schnuelle

4th March, 2020

The latest in our The Vanishing series, Kim Schnuelle tells the tale of three rhinoceros encounters and reflects on the true meaning of 'extinction'

The Vanishing

Pigeons of Perwa Waterfall

Vinit Agarwal

9th December, 2019

Today in 'The Vanishing', Vinit Agarwal merges fiction with reality as he recounts a childhood tale set within the Koel Karo anti-dam protest site in Jharkhand, India.

The Vanishing

Shadowland

Charlotte Watson

10th July, 2019

The Vanishing

The Sounds of Silence

Prerna Singh Bindra

16th May, 2019

The Vanishing

No Longer

Eric Nicholson

9th January, 2019

Our series on 'The Vanishing' continues with a poem by Eric Nicholson, with an image by Beatrice Forshall

The Vanishing

Where are the Bees Now?

Rosamund Portus

12th December, 2018

Our new section 'The Vanishing' continues with Rosamund Portus on artistic responses to the disappearance of bees.

The Vanishing

Disappearing Acts

Charlotte Du Cann

5th December, 2018

For The Vanishing series, Charlotte Du Cann considers the 'right' response to Earth's disappearances, through the lens of four artists and photographers.

The Vanishing Uncivilised Arts

What the Vaquita Did To Me

Sean Bogle

29th November, 2018

'The Vanishing' series continues with Wild Lens Collective filmmaker Sean Bogle on the critically endangered vaquita in the Upper Gulf of California, Mexico.

The Vanishing