Postcolonial (Eco-) Poetics in a Time of Global Pandemic: A Poetry Reading and Discussion

Poetry readings with John Kinsella and Vhani Capildeo.

Two short (15-20 minute) readings and a discussion, with two of our most energetic and accomplished writers of politically, environmentally, and linguistically engaged poetry. Bring your sandwich to the laptop and join us for some antipodal, thought-provoking, songful and critical exchange.

Vahni Capildeo is Writer in Residence at the University of York, with interests in silence, plurilingualism and place. Recent work includes Odyssey Calling (Sad Press), Light Site (Periplum Poetry), and Skin Can Hold (Carcanet).

John Kinsella’s most recent volumes of poetry are Drowning in Wheat: Selected Poems 1980-2015 (Picador, 2016), The Wound (Arc, 2018) Insomnia (Picador, 2019), and Brimstone: Villanelles (Arc, 2020). Along with short fiction, novels and a memoir, his other writings include the volumes of criticism Activist Poetics: Anarchy in the Avon Valley (Liverpool University Press, 2010) and Polysituatedness (Manchester University Press, 2017). He is a Fellow of Churchill College, Cambridge University, and Professor of Literature and Environment at Curtin University. Kinsella wishes always to acknowledge the traditional and custodial owners of the land he comes from and so often writes about – the Ballardong Noongar people, the Whadjuk Noongar people, and the Yamaji people.