Climate Justice Poetry Workshop

Course Summary

‘I think calling it climate change is rather limiting. I would rather call it the everything change.’ — Margaret Atwood

This course is designed for emerging poets who want to deepen their practice of sustained poetic attention to our transforming planet. ‘Climate Lyricism’ is a term coined by Min Hyoung Song for a creative practice that unites both thought and action. Over four weeks, we will explore different approaches to writing, workshopping, editing and publishing poetry that pays close attention to our natural world, its cycles and its shifts. We’ll read poems that encounter the ways climate change is redrawing our lives and landscapes through the lenses of the elements and the work of poets writing in Ireland and internationally. Each session will begin with discussion of a poem, followed by workshopping of your own original work. Time permitting, this will be complemented by a guided writing exercise.

Course Outline 

Over the four weeks we will collaborate to develop close readings of poems and other texts, alongside writing fresh poems. We will workshop one poem per participant, sharing feedback and support. Curated course readings and creative exercises include work by Etel Adnan, Natalie Diaz, Rita Dove, Camille T Dungy, Seamus Heaney, Nick Laird, W. S. Merwin, Brandy Nālani McDougall and Min Hyoung Song. There may be some adjustment of readings in response to the evolving dynamic and interests of the group.

Course Outcomes 

Writers will come away with new poems, receive feedback on work-in-progress, and discover new approaches to climate writing.

Course Leader  

Grace Wilentz’s debut collection, The Limit of Light (The Gallery Press, 2020) was named one of the best books of the year in The Irish Independent and The Irish Times. She was recently selected as a Next Generation Artist by The Arts Council / An Comhairle Ealaíon. Grace co-edits SEED, a new mixed media journal of art and writing. She has taught creative writing at universities and in diverse community settings. This is Grace’s third workshop offering from The Gallery Press.