“The Almanack of Breath tells the story of two demons, one of whom exists in Medieval texts and one who I invented as a contemporary rebuttal to the first, nasty one. Against Tutivillus, also known as the Recording Demon, I write the tale of a nameless creature, an invisible and inaudible allegorical figure of Listening. Against the punitive, eavesdropping and misogynist Tutivillus, she promotes an ethics of listening by collecting and donating different forms of breath to those who need it.

The text continues in the form of a month-by-month almanac, each of the twelve ‘Seasons of Breath’ holding advice on the type of breath—a gasp, or yawn or a sigh for example—that the reader should take care to listen for.

Illustrations of each Season, and the introduction, are by Collette Rayner. Many of the drawings she completed very quickly, as I read the text aloud to her.”—Ash Kilmartin, 2018