NATURE WRITING WITHOUT THE GANNETS with Helen Bowell

Helen thinks of two things: the apocalyptic poems that get shouted at climate protests and odes to birds she’s never heard of.

If you are interested in opening up a new world of eco-/nature poetry, that brings in voices other than the white dudes who seem to keep winning nature writing prizes, then this is the workshop for you. We will deconstruct these genres, write poems that bring in your family and friends, your identity and lived experience. We will not be writing lists of funky flower names, and you will not be allowed to write ‘Act Now!’, but we will be thinking about how we can write while the world is on fire.

Writers who have never written a poem about ‘nature’ are particularly welcome, and especially those of you who feel excluded from the climate movement, for whatever reason. Helen would like to have your voices in this conversation.

Helen is a poet and a co-founder of Dead [Women] Poets Society. She is a graduate of the London Library Emerging Writers scheme, London Writers Awards and The Writing Squad, and is a member of the Roundhouse Poetry Collective. In 2020, she was a Bronze winner of the Creative Future Writers’ Award. She works at The Poetry Society.