5x15 on Trees at Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew
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Elif Shafak is an award-winning British-Turkish novelist and storyteller. She has published 21 books, 13 of which are novels, and her books have been translated into 58 languages. The Island of Missing Treeswas a finalist for the Costa Award, British Book Awards, RSL Ondaatje Prize and Women’s Prize for Fiction and was a Reese Witherspoon Book Club Pick. Shafak is a Fellow and a Vice President of the Royal Society of Literature and has been chosen among BBC’s 100 most inspiring and influential women. An advocate for women's rights, LGBTQ+ rights and freedom of expression, Shafak is an inspiring public speaker and twice TED Global speaker. In 2024, Shafak was awarded the British Academy President's Medal for her "excellent body of work which demonstrates an incredible intercultural range."
Tristan Gooley is the award-winning and international bestselling author of titles such as The Walker's Guide to Outdoor Clues and Signs, How to Read Water and How to Read a Tree. Through his journeys, teaching and writing, he has pioneered a renaissance in the rare art of natural navigation. Tristan is the only living person to have both flown solo and sailed singlehanded across the Atlantic. He has explored close to home and walked with and studied the methods of tribal peoples in some of the remotest regions on Earth.
Jonathan Drori CBE is a Trustee of both Cambridge and Oxford Botanic Gardens and Honorary Professor at Birmingham University’s Institute of Forest Research. Previously, he was a Trustee of the Eden Project and the Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew, and for BBC TV, was responsible for many science documentaries. He is known for his TED talks on botany, which have been viewed millions of times. Jon is the author of the runaway best-sellers, Around the World In 80 Trees and Around the World in 80 Plants, revealing how the worlds of trees and plants are intricately entwined with our own history, culture and folklore. His first book for children, The Stuff That Stuff Is Made Of (The things we make with plants) will be published in Sept 2025.
Ersin Han Ersin is an artist and director of Marshmallow Laser Feast (MLF), a London-based collective known for pioneering artworks merging art, ecology, and technology. His practice spans sculpture, installation, live performance, and immersive technologies, revealing the hidden natural forces shaping our shared Earth. Ersin’s works invite audiences to explore realms beyond perception, uncovering interconnected systems fundamental to life. A TED Global speaker, his acclaimed talk, “What’s it like to be a giant sequoia tree?”, explores umwelt—the unique sensory experience of organisms—and humanity’s deep interconnectedness with nature. Through MLF, Ersin continues to bridge knowledge and wonder, expanding our relationship to the living world.
Kevin Martin is the Head of Tree Collections at the Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew. In this role, he is charged with the curation and management of Kew’s unique and historic collection of trees from around the globe for the purpose of scientific research and conservation within a UNESCO World Heritage Site landscape. In 2022, Kevin took on a part time MRes, looking into how climate change will effect tree species selection in the future.