The Stream of Everything

It's summer, and John Connell finds himself, like so many others, confined to his local area, the opportunity to freely travel and socialise cut short. His attention turns to the Camlin river – an ever-present source of life for his hometown's inhabitants and, for John, a site of boyhood adventure, first love, family history and local legend.

He decides to canoe its course with a friend, a two-day trip requiring physical exertion and mental resilience. Despite the world growing still around them, the river teems with life – a symphony of buzzing mayfly and jumping trout. Meandering downstream, John muses on what's brought him here: his travels, his past relationships and his battle with depression, as well as on Irish folklore, geopolitics and philosophy.

The Stream of Everything is both a reverie and a celebration of close observation: a winding, bucolic account of the summer we discovered home.

'Quietly triumphant.' Donal Ryan

'A contemplative, open-ended, ethically attuned pilgrimage.' Niamh Campbell

'A terrific book.' Michael Harding

'This is a sensitive, edifying, soul-nourishing book, celebratory, salutary and quietly triumphant. I loved reading it.' Donal Ryan

'A rich river journey, entrancing as all rivers are.' Bruce Pascoe

'Gentle, restorative, devotional, and strange.' Niamh Campbell

'A hugely satisfying read, full of imaginative wonders and absorbing philosophical musings.' Michael Harding

'In his joyful consideration of his native place, there is sweetness and ease … A book very much of its strange and eye-opening time.' Belinda McKeon



John Connell is author of The Running Book and The Cow Book, a number-one bestseller and winner of Popular Non-Fiction Book of the Year at the Irish Book Awards. His work has appeared in Granta's New Irish Writing. He is an award-winning investigative journalist, documentary producer, and weekly columnist with the Irish Independent. He lives in County Longford.