Today I signed up to the pledge at Culture Declares Emergency. It is an international organization bringing arts and culture organizations together as well as individual people working in the arts and culture industries: Mission: the cultural sector is a leading contributor in creating a regenerative future that sustains everyone, everywhere. Vision: to grow, support and [...]
Green Film Reviews: “Normal is Over 1.1”
Normal is Over 1.1 (directed and create by Renee Scheltema) is an award winning film packed with ideas about tackling ecological crisis. Most valuable are the different experts who speak about new approaches and inspiring ideas. This focus on individuals springs from Ian McCallum, director of the Wilderness Foundation, who suggests that human beings are [...]
Green Film Reviews: “From Flint: Voices From a Poisoned City”
Movie Poster: From Flint, Voices of a Poisoned City Today, I watched this very moving documentary directed by Elise Conklin about the Flint Water Crisis in Michigan. Titled From Flint: Voices of a Poisoned City, this 2017 film really does foreground the voices of residents of Flint first and foremost. It allows them to tell [...]
Sneak peek of Aubade After A French Movie
I am really looking forward to the publication of a new chapbook with Broken Sleep Books titled Aubade After a French Movie this October. Here is a sneak peek of the cover and one of the poems, a translation of Medieval poet Gwerful Mechain's 'Ode to the Cunt'! This pamphlet features new translations of Medieval [...]
Malia Womack: The Rights of Women in Puerto Rico
The Sinister Myth Harpy Logo This morning, we just released a new podcast for Sinister Myth, and this one features an interview with Malia Womack, recorded at the end of last year when she was doing field work in Puerto Rico. I met Malia when she participated in my Sexuality and Violence course, and she [...]
Poetry & Film: A List
I'm teaching a poetry course again this semester, and some of my students will be making poetry films! It's a really fun and inspiring exercise. Since I started teaching this, I have been compiling a list of poetry-related films for my students for inspiration. Thanks so much to friends and colleagues for suggestions! Some are [...]
Being in a Body and Ann Hamilton’s “ONEEVERYONE”
If you think about it, it is pretty bizarre. I'm talking about the strange pressure that comes with living in a human body. A few years ago I was teaching a course that I don't normally teach. It's a kind of introductory writing seminar for first year students, and I chose the topic of the [...]
Sinister Myth: Talking to Elissa Washuta about Trauma, the Body, and How We Write It
I am really looking forward to my podcast, Sinister Myth, starting up again at the end of the month, featuring an interview with Cowlitz non-fiction writer, Elissa Washuta. I know a lot of my podcasting friends have been working out how to deal with the current crisis where we don't have the same access to [...]
Ecojustice & Poetry
Photo by World Resources Institute This post is packed with all the stuff I have been writing, reading, and learning about poetry and eco justice. Thinking about urgent issues like mass extinction, it has become clear to me in the last few years that social and ecological issues are inextricably linked. For example, dodgy building [...]
Magma Poetry 79: Call for Poems on Dwelling
The submissions window for ‘Dwelling’ is open from 1st June – 31st July 2020. We welcome poems that have not been previously published, either in print or online. Up to 4 poems may be sent via Submittable, or by post if you live in the UK. Postal submissions are not acknowledged until a decision is made. [...]
