Ingrained: The making of a craftsman

WINNER OF THE INDIE BOOK AWARD 2025 FOR NON-FICTION
SHORTLISTED FOR THE WAINWRIGHT PRIZE FOR NATURE WRITING

A NEW YORKER BEST BOOK OF 2024

‘Robinson’s prose is humorous and macho, taking its lead from the gruff, sensual delivery of food writer Anthony Bourdain’ FINANCIAL TIMES

‘A debut that’s both a paean to the art of woodworking and a memoir about creative endeavours’ OBSERVER

‘Mesmeric’ SPECTATOR

‘Robinson’s chiselled, elegant prose is the sound of a bright new voice in non-fiction.’
SOPHY ROBERTS, author of A Training School for Elephants and Lost Pianos of Siberia

‘A beautifully cut and crafted masterpiece inlaid with insight and polished with the pure joy of nature.’
CHRIS PACKHAM, author of Fingers in the Sparkle Jar: A Memoir

‘Original. Rare. As beautiful as trees… A masterpiece.’
JOHN LEWIS-STEMPEL, author of Meadowland, The Running Hare and The Wood

»What a joy this is. I love the epic quest-ness of it, the wry humour, total graft, risk-taking and downright scariness of Callum’s bold adventure. Utterly life-affirming.’
MEL GIEDROYC

‘A delightful book about the art of craft; a hard-carved woodworking romance written with tenderness and an almost sensual attention to detail. I can smell the resin and the soft, fresh sawdust. I can feel the bite of dense grain beneath the blade. Quite magical.’
CAL FLYN, author of Islands of Abandonment

……………………………………………………………………………………………

Ingrained is a love letter to trees, timber and craftsmanship – and to finding your own voice.
The eldest son of a Master Woodworker, Callum Robinson spent his childhood surrounded by wood and trees, absorbing craft lessons in his father’s workshop, playing amongst the sycamore, oak and Scots pine that bordered his home. In time he became his father’s apprentice, helping to create exquisite bespoke objects. But eventually the need to find his own path led him to establish his own workshop; to chase ever bigger and more commercial projects, to business meetings, bright lights and bureaucracy, to lose touch with his roots. Until the devastating loss of one major job threatened to bring it all crashing down. Faced with the end of his business, his team and everything he had worked so hard to build, he was forced to question what mattered most.

Blending memoir and nature writing at its finest, Ingrained is an uplifting meditation on the joys and challenges of working with your hands in our modern age, on inheritance, community, and the beauty of the natural world.