The Poetics of Queer Ecology

Learning Goals

In Ecopoetry: A Critical Introduction, J. Scott Bryson writes, "eco-poets offer a vision of the world that values the interaction between two interdependent ... desires, both of which are attempts to respond to the modern divorce between humanity and the rest of nature." The academic literary canon divides contemporary eco-poetry into three loosely defined categories: nature poetry, environmental poetry, and eco-poetry. The Poetics of Queer Ecology is an opportunity to "queer" these distinctions. We will not be poets. Instead, we will "write," think, and play as cyborgs, human-animals, multi-gendered sentient creatures, machines, ghosts, and future children.

This club is a reading circle, but we will emphasize play as a response to the readings rather than critical analysis. We will traverse five books of poetry accompanied by essays and artifacts. Our club will gather every other week, and each gathering will highlight one book. Guided by queer, feminist, and decolonial thinking, we will collect and create ephemera, share resonances and dreams, and explore our intimacy with houseplants and petroleum.

Participants will have the opportunity to submit artifacts (i.e. performance stills, research notes, transcribed verbal/nonverbal conversations, book reviews, speculative fiction, poetic fragments, etc.) to the publication, earthwꜵrm.

Note: There will be a more formal course for The Poetics of Queer Ecology soon. Here, we will explore the history of "ecopoetics" and affiliated schools, and engage in digital publishing projects and experimental writing workshops.

Structure

The Poetics of Queer Ecology club will gather every other week via Zoom, and each gathering will highlight one book. Please email me if you need PDF copies of the readings!

If you have accessibility concerns, I am available to talk privately and/or provide any accommodations.

Who Should Sign Up

This club is for anyone interested in experimental publications, the intersection of nonverbal communication and language, queerness and queer theory, animal justice, decolonial practices, and poetry! You do not need formal training in any of these categories to participate, only a willingness to share, engage, and act respectfully of everyone else's experience.

Anything Else…

If you would like to know more about me as a facilitator of this club, feel free to reach out. I am happy to have a conversation or share a personal video introduction that addresses my experiences, identity, intent, and style.