Lunchtime Lecture: Our Ocean's Broken Heart

Our Ocean's Broken Heart by Doina Cornell depicts one woman's journey across the ocean and into the heart of those places most threatened by climate change.

Doina Cornell spent her childhood sailing around the world with her family on a small yacht, experiences she wrote about in her memoir Child of the Sea. She works with the family publishing business Cornell Sailing and was leader of Stroud District Council from 2018-2022.

In her new book she tells the story of sailing voyages she made to the Arctic and the Pacific accompanied by her children, exploring what it means to be a sailor and our relationship with the ocean. She brings to life the crucial threats our ocean faces, such as rising temperatures and sea levels, through the testimony of the people in the places she visits, and through citizen science projects carried out by sailing yachts in partnership with scientists. Tracing the legacy of colonialism and the pain of climate injustice she confronts how the world has changed since her 1970s childhood sailing the world, and how we can find the path back to hope.

Host or Publisher Bristol Libraries