Dermot’s new book gives vivid insight into living on the edge
Nomadic journeys in Siberia and the Sahara, and the hazards of climbing six north faces of the European Alps are among the themes of the latest book from mountaineer and broadcaster Dermot Somers.
Uncommon Ground: Adventures with Outsiders in Remarkable Terrain, which will be launched in Charlie Byrne’s bookshop on Friday, November 22, is a collection of writing that combines adventurous account with lucid essays and vivid short fiction.
The short stories it contains are grounded in the author’s personal experience of extreme landscape, ranging from serious alpinism to desert and Arctic travel.
From the high pillars of the Alps to the Sahara Desert, the Arctic Tundra to the Tibetan Plateau, the book embraces the dynamic characters who thrive in the world’s most dramatic landscapes.
In these pages, readers will meet desert nomads, Arctic herders, mountain climbers, people whose instincts have been honed by the raw edges of existence.
Born in Roscommon and living in Drogheda with his wife, Maeve MacPherson, Somers, is a writer, former broadcaster, and a mountaineer.
With Crossing the Line Films, he has presented many travel and adventure programmes for RTÉ and TG4, including a series on nomadic journeys, which took him to Siberia, the Sahara, Iran, Nepal and Tibet.
His fiction, history and travel-writing have been published in English and in Irish, winning awards in both languages. These include his 2002 memoir, Rince ar na Ballaí, published by Cois Life.
Somers was a member of the successful Irish Everest Expedition of 1993, and he has travelled the world as a climber, with a particular interest in the Alps and the Himalayas.
Uncommon Ground: Adventures with Outsiders in Remarkable Terrain, will be launched by journalist and author Lorna Siggins in Charlie Byrne’s on Friday, November 22. at 6pm.
Pictured: Dermot Somers (right) with Karma Tshering in Dolpo, Tibet.