‘’The Nature of Our Times,’ an anthology in collaboration with Kent’s Wick Poetry Center, will be published Sept. 18, highlighting nature to help policymakers and scientists better understand the ecosystem. 

The project was originally set to be a companion to the National Nature Assessment under the Biden Administration. However, funding for it was cancelled this past January after the Trump Administration took over.  

Phil Levin, the director of the assessment, was able to find funding to continue the work, creating an organization called United by Nature to sponsor the assessment. The collection was made in collaboration with Paloma Press, the Wick Poetry Center and Poets for Science, an initiative formed by the center.

David Hassler, the Bob & Walt Wick executive director, Aileen Cassinetto, co-founder of Paloma Press, and poet Luisa A. Igloria, all worked as editors on the project, moving forward with it because they knew it was an important cause. 

“What we have found is that our call for poems for this project struck a nerve,” Hassler said. “People from all different political orientations care about climate change, and they care about our environment.”

Cassinetto said she hopes the project contributes to the nation’s understanding of the benefits nature can bring and will “hopefully help guide future efforts to protect and restore it.”

The poetry center designed an interactive website to allow anyone to submit their poems that fit the themes. The website created an online gallery, allowing the poets to tag their poems by specific themes, topics and names so others can view the poems as well. 

This was unlike typical anthology submissions, which are normally submitted through direct email to the editors. Through this interactive site, over 1,300 poems were submitted. According to Cassinetto, it was difficult to narrow the poems they wanted to include in the printed book. 

“There’s a diversity of voices in the anthology,” she said. “It reflects the range of people in landscapes in North America. We chose poems that explore what it means to coexist in the natural world. We wanted to avoid scientific jargon.” 

From the submissions, the three editors ended up selecting 210 poems for print. However, all the submissions can still be read on the interactive site. 

Charles Malone, who works as a community outreach director at the Wick Poetry Center, is a featured poet in the anthology. He described the anthology as a “world-class collection of poets working on these themes.” 

Malone drew inspiration for his poem from a mulberry tree that he’d see on his walk home from work. 

“There was new growth on the tree that got its spring leaves earlier than the old growth. It was as if the mature part of the tree was letting the younger parts get nutrients before they took over, like there was generosity within the growth of those elements that I thought about,” he said. 

The upcoming reading will feature Levins speaking about the assessment and a discussion with the co-editors. Then, several of the featured poets will read their poems. 

Malone is excited for the book’s Sept. 18 release and its same-day anthology reading in the Kent Student Center Ballroom at 7 p.m. 

“I think sometimes we aren’t always aware how warm, and friendly and approachable poetry readings can be,” he said. “They can be a lot of fun to sort of feel the emotions of someone’s words in a room with other people.”

With poetry’s ability to help readers understand their feelings, Hassler views the publication of the anthology as crucial.

“I think that kind of discourse is needed more and more, at a time when we are so divided as a society,” he said.

Cassinetto emphasized how the anthology uses joy as an act of resistance.

“It’s sort of also a reminder that you’re not alone. It’s our hope that the younger generation will pick up where we left off and build what comes next,” she said.

Melora Shue is a reporter. Contact her at [email protected].