Poetry as Research Method: “don’t panic! and don’t write nature poems!”

In this workshop, we’ll consider poetry as a kind of research method that can help us think through crucial questions — in a time of climate crisis, on stolen and unceded Indigenous lands: Where are we? How did we get here? What do we know, and what do we still need to know, about how to be here, now?

As we are different people, and different writers, and as we have different relationships with the land, and with ourselves, we need different things. Our goal in this workshop, then, is to begin to develop poetry-research plans for ourselves, in a mutually supportive and resource-sharing way.

Our facilitator, Fenn Stewart, will share some of what she has learned from other writers and artists who are working through their own relationships with birds, bears, colonialism, "Canada," other homelands, other home nations, other ancestors, highways, diasporas, gardening, zucchinis, zebra mussels, salmon, lawns, hiking trails, and poetry itself.

Fenn will also share what she’s learned from Indigenous, anti-racist, and anti-colonial writers about some of the frames (like “settler apocalypticism,” and certain kinds of "nature poetry") that some of us get stuck in, sometimes, when we write about land, and place, and climate.

Please come prepared to read and think and write; speaking and sharing are warmly encouraged (but not required if unpleasant for you).

To support our non-profit programming and to help us cover costs, this workshop is $10. If you are experiencing barriers to attend, please reach out over email. We’re happy to provide you with one of our scholarship spots. We have reserved half of our available seats for attendees who are BIPOC/PGM. Anyone who self-identifies as Black, Indigenous and/or a Person of Colour or People of the Global Majority is welcome to reserve these tickets.

What to bring:

• A memory of the earliest plant, bird, or animal that you remember becoming acquainted with, as well as (if applicable) a memory of the person or persons who introduced to you that being.
• A memory of the earliest time you ate straight out of a forest or garden or lake or river or ocean (berries, mushrooms, fish, clams).
• Your earliest memory of a seeing, or smelling, or feeling a wildfire.

More about the facilitator:

Fenn Stewart is the author of three chapbooks and the poetry collection, Better Nature, which was longlisted for the 2018 Gerald Lampert Memorial Prize. A former editor of The Capilano Review, she continues to serve on the magazine’s editorial board. Stewart holds a PhD in social and political thought, and teaches literature and writing at Capilano University. She lives with her kids in Vancouver, on unceded Skwxwú7mesh (Squamish), xʷməθkʷəỷəm (Musqueam), and səlilwətaɬ (Tsleil-Waututh) territories.

More about Upstart & Crow:

Upstart & Crow is a not-for-profit creative studio and literary incubator that champions writers, readers and stories, and the role they play in shaping our lives. We develop original programs, support artists and revel in creative projects focused on literature in translation, climate solutions, poetry, civic dialogue, community and skills building, all with the aim of elevating the role of literature and storytelling in our lives. Find us on Granville Island, Gibsons and online at upstartandcrow.com.

Accessibility:

The main studio of our shop is accessible for folks with mobility aids. There is a washroom on the main floor available for attendees.

Questions: hello[at].

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