A Journal of Australian & International Cultural Reviews, News and Criticism.
Amanda Anastasi was commissioned to write a poetic call to action for COP30 that was a clear, urgent summary of climate impacts across the Oceania region. It was written in response to speakers ranging from policy experts to Indigenous elders at the Global Ethical Stocktake (GES) – Oceania Region.
It was a pleasure to be asked to launch this collection of haiku and senryu by Michael Leach. It is a gentle, subtly joyful collection, even in moments where loss and vulnerability are depicted. This slim collection is a testament to the poet’s ability to express a great deal in few words.
We write – we have always written – as a species who have over centuries aimed to elevate ourselves over nature. We write about our planet now with a renewed consciousness. However, the eye and the hand that is capturing it also has a hand in destroying it. Each one of us – some in very small and some in large ways, some knowing and unknowing, some thinking and unthinking – are contributing to it.
These 22 one-line poems by Melbourne poet Amanda Anastasi were commissioned by the Monash Climate Change Communication Research Hub. While some of the poems document the 2019-2020 Australian bushfire crisis, others are futuristic climate visions.