Field Notes – Is a River Alive? Field Notes’ 67th Quarterly Edition, Is a River Alive?, flows from a remarkable collaboration between writer Robert Macfarlane and artist Stanley Donwood. Released in the summer of 2025 to coincide with the American publication of Macfarlane’s new book of the same name, this limited-edition 3-Pack of memo books celebrates nature, storytelling, and the deep currents that connect art and observation. Is a River Alive? chronicles Macfarlane’s epic journeys along some of the world’s most vital rivers, weaving together environmental insight, human resilience, and poetic reflection. During the years of writing his book, Macfarlane carried Field Notes memo books with him everywhere, filling them with sketches, field notes, and fleeting moments of inspiration. This new edition closes that creative loop — the very notebooks that accompanied the writing now return as a companion to the finished work, transforming his lived experience into a tactile keepsake for readers, writers, and explorers alike. The covers for Is a River Alive? feature the artwork of Stanley Donwood, Macfarlane’s frequent collaborator and the visual mind behind many iconic Radiohead album covers. Donwood’s design began with his hand-carved linocut Meander, an intricate exploration of the shapes and motion of rivers. From this starting point, he developed a series of colourful, textured works, two of which appear on the U.S. and U.K. book covers. Field Notes has reproduced these designs across three distinct memo books, printed and embossed on rich Sappi McCoy 100#C Silk stock, with a mix of matte, gloss, and reticulated UV varnishes that lend depth and texture to each cover. The result is a set of notebooks that feel as dynamic and alive as the rivers that inspired them. Inside, each 3½” × 5½” memo book contains 48 pages of smooth Domtar Lynx 60#T paper printed with a soft “Cloud Forest Grey” graph grid. The books are bound with gloss-white staples, their rounded corners giving them a refined finish. Every detail has been executed with Field Notes’ signature precision, proudly printed and assembled in the U.S.A. by Classic Colour. This limited edition of 30,000 3-Packs stands as both a tribute to Macfarlane’s lyrical exploration of nature and a testament to Field Notes’ commitment to craftsmanship and storytelling. Is a River Alive? captures the spirit of curiosity and wonder that flows through every great adventure — an invitation to look closer, listen deeper, and follow where the current leads.
