Poetry / ecopoetry
Tjawangwa Dema launches ecopoetry collection on Earth Day
Award-winning poet and author of the acclaimed Mandible and The Careless Seamstress, Tjawangwa Dema is now set to release her collection of ecopoetry, an/other pastoral.
As well as teaching internationally, Dema is an honorary senior research associate at the University of Bristol, and sits on literary boards for Lyra – Bristol Poetry Festival, and the Bristol Poetry Institute Partnership.
Published by Bristol indie press No Bindings, the collection also features a foreword from novelist Chris Abani and illustrations by Motswana artist Tebogo Cranwell.
is needed now More than ever
What Happens Now? illustration for an/other pastoral – photo: Tebogo Cranwell
The poems, in which recurring themes of history, belonging and race merge with the climate crisis, ecosystems and care have been dubbed “a compelling collection that refuses easy representations of where nature can be found, and what it means to be human now”.
For Abani, Dema’s achievement is hugely significant: “Dema, with deft moves, turns lyric and narrative lines into a fierce, political and artistic engagement that reverses the erasure of living black bodies, living black culture.
“This is a powerful anthem to self; this self happens to be black with all the power and threat of that.”
In a special launch event at Strange Brew, arranged to coincide with Earth Day – April 22 – Dema will be reading from the book, and participating in a Q&A discussion with Heather Marks.
an/other pastoral will be available to purchase from Gloucester Road Books, who are the official bookseller for the launch, and the evening will conclude with music from Bristol-based DJ, Ifeoluwa.
https://www.instagram.com/p/CbkE9AOD9Wz/
The collection is part of the wider Another Pastoral project, which is a collaboration between Dema and Lily Green, director of No Bindings.
The pair created an audio work that was broadcast on BBC Radio 6 Music in 2020, involving Maxwell Ayamba, founder of the Sheffield Environmental Movement and co-founder of the Black Men Walk for Health Group; Dr Michael Malay, a lecturer in Environmental Literature at the University of Bristol, and Harriet Green, artist and Lily Green’s mother.
These three participants were chosen for their personal experiences as People of Colour in the UK whose work is focused around nature.
The resulting piece can be accessed through Grapevine-enabled illustrations within the an/other pastoral collection.
an/other pastoral, event poster – photo: No Bindings
Tjawangwa Dema: an/other pastoral (2022) is published by No Bindings, and can be pre-ordered now. The launch is on April 22 at Strange Brew at 7.30pm. Tickets at full price or Pay What You Can are available via www.headfirstbristol.co.uk.
Main photo: Petra Rolinec
Read more: Bristol City Poet launches debut collection
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