Edited by Jay Ramsay Afterword by Anthony Nanson
Beautifully crafted, yet challenging received wisdom and pushing boundaries, these are cutting-edge poems from a new generation of writers who share a love of the Earth and haven’t given up on humans either. In poems as light as a butterfly and as wild as a storm you’ll find vivid, contemporary voices that dare to explore a spiritual dimension to life on Earth and, in doing so, imply that a way out of our global crisis of ecological catastrophe, financial meltdown, and bankruptcy of the spirit is to look beyond the impasse of materialism. With contributions from poets in the USA, Canada, UK, Australia, and New Zealand, this anthology reaches out across the planet to embrace the challenges and blessings of being alive on the Earth in the twenty-first century.
Contributors: Roselle Angwin, Aidan Andrew Dunn, Diana Durham, Karen Eberhardt-Shelton, Rose Flint, Dawn Gorman, Alyson Hallet, Jeremy Hooker, Adam Horovitz, Charlotte Hussey, Irina Kuzminsky, Kevan Manwaring, Paul Matthews, Jehanne Mehta, Margie McCallum, Gabriel Bradford Millar, Helen Moore, Paul Nelson, Jennie Powell, Jay Ramsay, Lynne Wycherley
Soul of the Earth: the Awen anthology of eco-spiritual poetry
POETRY / SPIRITUALITY
'All real poetry seeks to “renew the face of the earth” – and so to resist the exploiting, banalization or defacing of what lies around us. I hope this collection will serve the renewal of vision we so badly need.'
Rowan Williams
'Soul of the Earth is for those who care about the Earth, those who are keeping the flame of optimism for the future burning in your heart. This is a collection of beautifully crafted poems by poets from around the world.' Cygnus Community Review
'It's only when the poets have made us look again, inward and outward, that we shall see our way.'
Martin Palmer, Alliance of Religions & Conservation
'"The Soul of the Earth" goes beyond contemporary eco-poetry by stressing the value of re-enchantment ... The poems invite us to see nature as filled with meaning and purpose and the land as alive with stories. They call for reconnection with the earth as a living being ... This is a great introduction to eco-spiritual/eco-bardic poetry.'
Lorna Smithers