Queer(ing) Nature: Breaking Down the Binaries Between Self & Wildness

In this workshop, we will explore the poetry of queer nature writers who blur the boundaries between what is Self and what is More-than-Human. We are a part of nature. This is something that has always been obvious to those of us who see the world through a Queer-lens, who understand the fluidity of bodies, landscapes, and the entrapment of binaries. Queerness challenges the societal narratives of separation that have created a disconnection between civilization and wildness, a disconnection that leads to the domination of nature and human alike. We’ll explore poems by Joe Jiménez, Oliver Baez Bendorf, Valerie Wetlaufer, Melissa Mitchell, and more. After reading and discussing the poems, we will write our own poems to (re)connect ourselves and our readers with the More-than-Human world, poems that rekindle reverence and belonging.

About the instructor: Aspen Everett is a poet and writer from the wind-tossed flatlands of Southeast Kansas. Despite their best efforts, there are still grass seeds and muddy rivers in most of their poems. Aspen is the author of Tributaries, from Middle Creek Publishing, and their poems have been published by Twenty Bellows, Planted Journal, South Broadway Press, Bombay Gin, and more. Aspen is a Community Engagement Instructor with Lighthouse Writers, Assistant Editor of Screaming at America, and 2026 Pushcart Prize Nominee. They live in Boulder, Colorado with their seventeen-year-old and stubborn houseplants. You can follow them on Instagram for poems and events @aspengrovepoetry.

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