2. What is Eco poetry?
Eco-poetry can inspire a broad awareness for our
environment by presenting different ecological
perspectives.
Eco-poetry is often marked by an appreciation for
nature as self-regulating cyclic systems, separate
from nature and environmental poetry.
Eco-poetry is clear and somewhat minimalist; rather
than experimenting with visual and textual design,
eco-poets dedicate their efforts to the aesthetic flow
of their work by creating a fluid message through
organized stanzas.
3. “Today we very much need sustainable poetry.”
--L.M. Scigaj
4. A Sustainable Message
sus·tain·able
adj sə-ˈstā-nə-bəl
Definition of SUSTAINABLE
1 : capable of being sustained
2 a : of, relating to, or being a method of harvesting or
using a resource so that the resource is not depleted or
permanently
damaged <sustainable techniques> <sustainable agric
ulture>b : of or relating to a lifestyle involving the use
of sustainable methods <sustainable society>
— sus·tain·abil·i·ty noun
5. • Ecological poetry promotes awareness of the
environment and the natural world, including its
current realistic state.
• Ecopoetry inspires awareness by presenting
ecological perspectives of sustainability.
• This poetry implies that the interests of humans
and nature should be balanced.
6. What makes poetry sustainable, and
how can it present a sustainable
message?
▫ This message becomes attainable when our
relationship to nature and our environment is
recognized ~> the option for sustainability can be
considered as a part of our daily lives.
• Ecopoetry is a possible medium to purvey this
message.
7. “The ethics behind sustainability are derived from
the same principle of bio-centric harmony. Simply
stated, sustainability means that humans can
harvest a sufficient amount of a natural resource
for consumption so long as we do not deplete the
resource base” (Scigaj 78).
Implying the need for bio-centric harmony is an
indicative attribute of eco-poetry.
8. Ecopoetry’s message
Through a creative medium, eco-poetry helps to
create recognition of our interdependency on the
biosphere.
Writers are able to compose and inspire
awareness with eco-poetry, not simply by the use
of hard science, but by understanding our
existence and how it correlates with nature, and
the environment.
9. Attributes of Ecopoetry
• Eco-poetry is clear and somewhat minimalist;
rather than experimenting with visual and
textual design, eco-poets dedicate their efforts to
the aesthetic flow of their work by creating a
fluid message through organized stanzas.
• Eco-poetry is often marked by an appreciation
for nature as self-regulating cyclic systems,
separate from nature and environmental poetry.
10. It helps us define our relationship to
nature:
▫ “A sustainable poem is the verbal record of the
precept, of the poet’s originary perception”
(Scigaj 80).
▫ “It is the verbal record of an interactive
encounter...between the human psyche and
nature, where nature retains its autonomy--
where nature is not dominated, reduced to
immanence, or reduced to a reliably benign
aesthetic backdrop for anthropocentric
concerns” (Scigaj 80).
11. Ecopoetry & Boundaries
Eco-poets actively assist nature in keeping a form of
separateness and autonomy, and also equality,
through awareness maintained by creating ecopoetry.
Ultimately, the language of expression and ecological
awareness is homologous to the way our ecosystems
function.
Language as a form of expression in eco-poetry stands
apart from other creative forms of writing.
It is a flexible tool that relates the experiences and
perceptions of the corporeal body.
12. Associated Texts
Abbs, Peter. Earth Songs: A Resurgence
Anthology of Contemporary Eco-Poetry. Green
Books UK, 2003.
Fesltiner, John. Can Poetry Save the Earth?: A
Field Guide to Nature Poems. Yale University
Press, 2009.
Scigaj, Leonard M. Sustainable Poetry: Four
American Ecopoets. Lexington: UP of Kentucky,
1999.
