Writing Environmental Poems in the Symbiocene

This class is based on the One State / One Story Community Read World of Wonders by Aimee Nezhukumatathil.

How can creative writing help us to develop new modes of perception and connection, find new creative collaborators,and imagine new possibilities for our environment?

What does it mean to be a poet in the age of human-accelerated climate change? In a recent essay, philosopher Glenn Albrecht suggests a new name for the next period of earth history: the Symbiocene: “The word “symbiosis” implies living together for mutual benefit […] symbiosis affirms the inter-connectedness of life and all living things.” Inspired by these ideas, how can creative writing help us to develop modes of perception and connection, find creative collaborators, and imagine new possibilities for our environment?

In this interactive workshop, we will start by practicing a series of writing strategies for observing and describing the environment. Then, by reading and discussing the work of contemporary writers, we will learn techniques for incorporating research, writing with maps, and working with collaborators. Throughout the workshop, we will discuss how adapting models of scientific inquiry can lead to innovative literary forms. Participants will come away from the workshop with several poem drafts and techniques for creating a sustained writing practice.

Notes:
-Cost: $5 for members and $10 for nonmembers
-Members: please be sure to login to your membership account for the discount!
–*The first 8 registrations will receive a free book. Please include the best mailing address at checkout*

About the Presenter:
Katy Didden is the author of The Glacier’s Wake (Pleiades Press, 2013) and the forthcoming book Ore Choir: The Lava on Iceland (Tupelo Press, 2022). She is one of the co-creators of the Almanac for the Beyond (Tropic Editions, 2019), and is an Assistant Professor at Ball State University where she teaches Poetry Writing and Creative Writing and the Environment. For more information and writing examples, visit her website: www.katydidden.com.

About the book:
As a child, Nezhukumatathil called many places home: the grounds of a Kansas mental institution, where her Filipina mother was a doctor; the open skies and tall mountains of Arizona, where she hiked with her Indian father; and the chillier climes of western New York and Ohio. But no matter where she was transplanted—no matter how awkward the fit or forbidding the landscape—she was able to turn to our world’s fierce and funny creatures for guidance.

“What the peacock can do,” she tells us, “is remind you of a home you will run away from and run back to all your life.” The axolotl teaches us to smile, even in the face of unkindness; the touch-me-not plant shows us how to shake off unwanted advances; the narwhal demonstrates how to survive in hostile environments. Even in the strange and the unlovely, Nezhukumatathil finds beauty and kinship. For it is this way with wonder: it requires that we are curious enough to look past the distractions in order to fully appreciate the world’s gifts.

Warm, lyrical, and gorgeously illustrated by Fumi Nakamura, World of Wonders is a book of sustenance and joy.
This program is sponsored by the Indiana Humanities One State / One Story Community Read grant. We’d also like to thank our community partner Garfield Park Arts Center for hosting this event.