Poetry with purpose
Our planet offers us solace for our broken hearts, dreams and lives.
In celebration of World Wetlands Day, which takes place on February 2, Avbob in conjunction with Tania Haberland will host a poetry competition.
Since its inception, the Avbob Poetry Project has supported grieving people by offering them the resources to read and write poetry.
On World Wetlands Day, the organisers encourage communities to investigate what it means to grieve non-human losses, such as animals going extinct, erased coastlines, endangered plant species and polluted rivers.
Wetlands ensure the survival of a host of creatures and some of their benefits include protecting communities through flood control, soil nutrition and food security.
According to the Department of Environmental Affairs, our country has lost approximately 50% of its original wetland area and a further 48% of wetland ecosystem types are critically endangered.
Tania is the winner of the 2010 Ingrid Jonker Prize and is currently completing a PhD in Ecopoetry at the Université Libre de Bruxelles.
“Whether or not we consciously recognise it, the daily diminishment of species, habitats and cultures is noted in our psyches,” she said.
“Much of the grief we carry is not personal, but shared, communal.”
She explained that Ecopoetry gives us a fresh view on how to write about our deepest humanity.
“Poets offer a voice to the voiceless, giving us a way of seeing this world other than as an endless free resource to be used and abused.”
Entries for the Avbob Poetry Competition open on August 1. Visit www.avbobpoetry.co.za for more information.
Also Read: Councillors learn wetlands conservation ethics
Also Read: Preserve our wetlands
