Poets for the Planet is a community of kindred poets, performers, artists and creative activists raising their voices to engage with climate and ecological emergency through poetry in all its forms.
“Do not be daunted by the enormity of the world’s grief. Do justly, now. Walk humbly, now. You are not obligated to complete the work, but neither are you free to abandon it.”
– The Talmud
Our planet is poetry.
In the movement of molecules; in the swirl of clouds over seas; in the silences between words and notes of music; in the dance of bees.
And our planet is in crisis. Global climate emergency and ecological disaster can no longer be sidelined or ignored. Poets for the Planet insists on the care, conservation and regeneration of our environment and resources.
Inspired by protest round the world, we believe that the poetry community has an important role to play in calling on a range of voices, experiences and passions to respond to this crucial moment of challenge.
• We curate and create poetry events, activities and publications to inspire, disturb, provoke, empower and mobilise.
• We collaborate with protest, environmental and other movements to shake up, alert and alarm from the grass roots to government.
• We encourage individual, local and community projects to bring together poetry and activism with thoughtfulness, humour, humanity and mischief.
• We learn from others and collate resources to support creative engagement in environmental issues through poetry.
• We are inclusive, intersectional, multi-faith, multi-lingual and multi-generational.
• We are driven by words: focused on action. No action is too small to count, no idea too trivial to entertain.
Now, more than ever, the power of poetry is necessary to raise awareness, reconnect us with the planet and promote individual and collective responsibility for change.
Our aims
• To use poetry to understand and explore the climate crisis and mass extinction, and to inform and relate that understanding to others through poetry.
• To demand sustainable practices within the publishing industry, arts/poetry/literature organisations and the wider spoken word community, and to insist working with an ecological conscience is an integral practice of contemporary poets.
• To inform poets, producers and organisers at all levels about the ways they can have an impact on the climate crisis and support activists including Extinction Rebellion, Greenpeace and others in ensuring a secure future for our world
For more information about the composition and organisation of Poets for the Planet please see our constitution.
If you are a poet, publisher, community organisation, literature institution or activist, please show your support by signing up to our pledge.
“I have read Poets for the Planet’s Mission Statement, and I want to add my voice, to connect with others engaged with climate and ecological emergency through poetry in all its forms.”