Ecopoetry is

poetry Poetry (derived from the Greek '' poiesis'', "making"), also called verse, is a form of literature that uses aesthetic and often rhythmic qualities of language − such as phonaesthetics, sound symbolism, and metre − to evoke meanings ...

with a strong

ecological Ecology () is the study of the relationships between living organisms, including humans, and their biophysical environment, physical environment. Ecology considers organisms at the individual, population, community (ecology), community, ecosy ...

emphasis or message. Many

poets A poet is a person who studies and creates poetry. Poets may describe themselves as such or be described as such by others. A poet may simply be the creator ( thinker, songwriter, writer, or author) who creates (composes) poems (oral or writte ...

, poems and books of poems have expressed ecological concerns; but only recently has the term ''ecopoetry'' gained use. There is now, in English-speaking poetry, a recognisable sub

genre Genre () is any form or type of communication in any mode (written, spoken, digital, artistic, etc.) with socially-agreed-upon conventions developed over time. In popular usage, it normally describes a category of literature, music, or other ...

of ecopoetry. Prior to the term, a number of poems had ecological messages. Although these poets did not mention the word, they were clearly 'Ecopoetic' in stance and exerted an influence on the subsequent subgenre. Examples include: the book ''Ecopoemas'' of

Nicanor Parra Nicanor Segundo Parra Sandoval (5 September 1914 – 23 January 2018) was a Chilean poet and physicist. He was considered one of the most influential Chilean poets of the Spanish language in the 20th century, often compared with Pablo Neruda. P ...

(1982), ''The White Poem'' by Jay Ramsay & Carole Bruce (Rivelin Grapheme Press, 1988), ''Bosco'' (Hearing Eye, 1999; 2001) and (more recently) ''Heavy Water: a poem for Chernobyl'' (Enitharmon Press, 2004). Early publications also include ''The Green Book of Poetry'' by

Ivo Mosley Ivo Adam Rex Mosley (born 1951) is a British writer. His career has encompassed ceramics, poetry, social commentary, opera and musical theatre. His focus of the last few years is on works of non-fiction relating to politics and monetary reform. ...

(1995, Frontier Publishing and Harper San Francisco, 1996 as ''Earth Poems ''). It includes over three hundred poems from around the world, many translated by Mosley, and helped to define and establish the genre. One of a number of seminal texts helping to introduce the term into wider, critical use was ''Ecopoetry: a Critical Introduction'' edited by J. Scott Bryson (2002). Another example of the burgeoning use of the term at the millennial turn was the journal ''

Ecopoetics Ecopoetry is poetry with a strong ecological emphasis or message. Many poets, poems and books of poems have expressed ecological concerns; but only recently has the term ''ecopoetry'' gained use. There is now, in English-speaking poetry, a recogn ...

'', which broadened the term from poetry into ''

poiesis In philosophy and semiotics, ''poiesis'' (from grc, ποίησις) is "the activity in which a person brings something into being that did not exist before." ''Poiesis'' is etymologically derived from the ancient Greek term ποιεῖν, wh ...

'' interpreted as making or writing more generally. One of the fundamental premises of Ecopoetics is derived from an ideological perspective that desires the conception of difference or alterity as non-oppositional; we are challenged to view things in relation. Meaning the writing is made of an ecosystem. The writing is distinctive in that its characteristics relate to one another. Since then, a spate of poetry anthologies and books has appeared, either employing the word explicitly or using the idea as a guiding principle. Recent instances include

Alice Oswald Alice Priscilla Lyle Oswald (née Keen; born 31 August 1966) is a British poet from Reading, Berkshire. Her work won the T. S. Eliot Prize in 2002 and the Griffin Poetry Prize in 2017. In September 2017, she was named as BBC Radio 4's second Poe ...

's ''The Thunder Mutters'' (2005),

Forrest Gander Forrest Gander (born 1956) is an American poet, translator, essayist, and novelist. The A.K. Seaver Professor Emeritus of Literary Arts & Comparative Literature at Brown University, Gander won the Pulitzer Prize for Poetry in 2019 for ''Be With ...

& John Kinsella's ''Redstart: an Ecological Poetics'', and the ground-breaking ''Earth Shattering: Ecopoems'', edited by

Neil Astley Neil Astley, Hon. FRSL (born 12 May 1953) is an English publisher, editor and writer. He is best known as the founder of the poetry publishing house Bloodaxe Books. Life and work Astley was born in Portchester, Hampshire, and grew up in nearby Fa ...

Bloodaxe Books Bloodaxe Books is a British publishing house specializing in poetry. History Bloodaxe Books was founded in 1978 in Newcastle upon Tyne by Neil Astley, who is still editor and managing director. Bloodaxe moved its editorial office to Northumb ...

(2007). One of the chief characteristics of ecopoetry, as defined by James Engelhardt, is that it is connected to the world in a way that implies responsibility. As with other models that explore and assume engagement (

Marxism Marxism is a left-wing to far-left method of socioeconomic analysis that uses a materialist interpretation of historical development, better known as historical materialism, to understand class relations and social conflict and a dialec ...

feminism Feminism is a range of socio-political movements and ideologies that aim to define and establish the political, economic, personal, and social equality of the sexes. Feminism incorporates the position that society prioritizes the male po ...

, etc.), Ecopoetry is "surrounded by questions of ethics". As a means of describing poetry or poetic projects that embrace the ecological imperative for personal sensitivity and social change, ecopoetry has been cited by such writers as

John Burnside John Burnside FRSL FRSE (born 19 March 1955) is a Scottish writer. He is one of only three poets (the others being Ted Hughes and Sean O'Brien (writer), Sean O'Brien) to have won both the T. S. Eliot Prize and the Forward Poetry Prize for the s ...

and

Mario Petrucci Mario Petrucci (born 1958) is a poet, literary translator, educator and broadcaster. He was born in Lambeth, London and trained as a physicist at Selwyn College in the University of Cambridge and later completed a PhD in vacuum crystal growth at ...

References

Bibliography

'Planting Roots: A Survey of Introductions to Ecopoetry and Ecocriticism'
by Caitlin Maling
''Cordite Poetry Review''

'Ecopoems'
term used in title of ''Earth Shattering: Ecopoems'' (ed. Neil Astley; Bloodaxe 2007) .
Redstart: An Ecological Poetics
by

and John Kinsella (University of Iowa Press, 2012) * ''Ecopoetry: a Critical Introduction'' (ed. J. Scott Bryson; University of Utah Press 2002) .
The Future of the Past: Ecopoetics
by

at The Free Library * ''The White Poem'' by Jay Ramsay and Carole Bruce (Rivelin Grapheme Press, 1988) .
Bosco
by Mario Petrucci (Hearing Eye, 1999; 2001) .
Heavy Water: a poem for Chernobyl
(Enitharmon Press, 2004) . * ''The Thunder Mutters: 101 Poems About the Planet'' (ed., Alice Oswald; Faber & Faber, 2005) . *

' by Massimo D'Arcangelo,

Anne Elvey Anne Frances Elvey is an Australian academic, editor, researcher and poet. Education Elvey has completed at Bachelor of Science with Honours, a Graduate Diploma in Education (Secondary), a Bachelor of Theology, a Master of Theology and a ...

and Helen Moore (La Vita Felice, 2017)
The Language Habitat: an Ecopoetry Manifesto
by James Engelhardt (2007).
Manifesto of Italian ECOPOETRY (2005)
by M. Ivana Trevisani Bac

* Literary journal
''Ecopoetics''
* The Poetry Society'
''Ecopoetry Study Packs''
*Blue Mars by Kim Stanley Robinson - 1996 - A Bantam Spectra Book - . * ''Ecopoetry'' by V.I.Postnikov (The Trumpeter, 2001, 17,1) http://trumpeter.athabascau.ca.

by R.S Mallari {{environmental humanities British poetry British literary movements British Poetry Revival Genres of poetry Environmental humanities Environmental literature