Going to the Moon?

The Moon inspires myth, song, poems, and journeys. Mysterious and elegant, it lights the night, generates tides, and affects Earth’s climate. Since human beginnings, the Moon has been our common heritage owned by no one, shared by all peoples; a revered object, not a destination. And yet, in the present, global forces race and compete to claim lunar resources. What plans are underway? Do the peoples of our planet have a say? Can poetry, or any art, make a difference? What will it be like to look up at an inhabited Moon?

When she found out that a poem would be sent to the Moon in a time capsule, former Santa Clara County Poet Laureate Sally Ashton realized her resistance to the forces of lunar exploitation is in very real conflict with her excitement at being part of a lunar landing. Her book, Going to the Moon, explores this paradox and the fraught relationship of humans with conquest and the non-human world. Join her conversation with Dr. Persis Karim, faculty emerita at San Francisco State University, as they ponder the Moon, consider the progress of the lunar goldrush, and explore our role in the revived race to space at this transformational moment in human history—the colonization of the Moon.

Sally Ashton is a poet, writer, teacher, and editor-in-chief of DMQ Review, an online journal featuring poetry and art. Publishing in three genres, she is the author of five books of poems including Listening to Mars (Cornerstone Press, 2024). San José State University faculty emerita, she continues to teach workshops locally and online. Her poem “4.6 Billion Years” is archived on the Moon with the Lunar Codex. Her new book of nonfiction, Going to the Moon, (Duke University Press, 2026) explores her personal experience and the global race to space. www.sallyashton.com  

Persis Karim, Ph.D., is poet, essayist, editor, and retired San Francisco State University professor of Comparative and World Literature. She is the editor of three anthologies of Iranian diaspora writing and her poetry has appeared in a number of national and local publications. Co-director of the documentary, “The Dawn Is Too Far: Stories of Iranian-American Life,” she is also an avid birdwatcher, moonchaser, and gardener.