Writing the Land: Poetry Workshop

The land nourishes all lifeforms, including us. Who are we as humans in relation to the natural world that sustains us? One way to explore this question is through reading and writing poetry. Come celebrate the spirit of the land and the power of words with an outdoor poetry writing workshop!

This event is based on Writing the Land: Wanderings II, an anthology of poems inspired by conserved lands from Maine to Washington State. JuPong Lin, author of two poems inspired by the Food Bank Farm & Podick/Cole/Szala Conservation Areas that appear in this anthology, will lead this workshop at the Food Bank Farm in Hadley.

Beginning and experienced writers are welcome. All participants will receive one free copy of the anthology (a $20 value). The workshop will include readings, writing guidance, and feedback by JuPong, as well as a short, easy, reflective walk around the Food Bank Farm surrounded by woodland.

JuPong Lin is a Taiwan-born interdisciplinary artist-researcher, writer, and educator working to shift climate colonialism through deep listening and culturally-responsive contemplative arts. Her installations and community performances blend paper-folding, poetics, story circle, and qigong. A faculty member of the MFA in Interdisciplinary Arts (MFAIA) program at Goddard College, she is a PhD candidate in the Environmental Studies program at Antioch University New England.

Kestrel Land Trust partnered with the Food Bank of Western Massachusetts to create this farm in 2020 as an investment in local farmland for farmers to strengthen our local food economy while also providing a reliable source of healthy organic food for those who need it most. It is one of only a few in the entire country.

Writing the Land is a collaborative project of the nonprofit NatureCulture that brings together poets and land conservation organizations to raise awareness about the importance of land conservation through poetry.

“Writing the Land is an attempt to honor nature and our relationship with it in a way that is as equitable and transparent as it is deep and entangled. We intend to be as inclusive—to humans and places—as we hope the mantle of protection that land trusts offer can be. Our work will never be complete but gains strength, depth, beauty, and energy in a multitude of voices.” - Lis McLoughlin, editor