Jacqueline Suskin and Nadia Colburn: Poetry and the Earth

It was a joy to read poetry and engage in a conversation about poetry and the earth with the inspiring poet, activist, teacher, and self-described "ecstatic earth worshiper" Jacqueline Suskin.

You can watch the recording of our time together by clicking the image below. And be sure to have your writing materials close by—Jacqueline and I share some writing prompts you might want to explore 🙂

Some of the ideas and questions that emerged and particularly resonated with me during the reading and conversation with Jacqueline were:

• As poets, we navigate between our inner and outer worlds and the relationship between what is inside of us (our soul/spirit) and what is outside of us (the natural world)
• We must always remember we are inseparable from the natural world
• Birds are symbols of poetry across ages, across cultures (and appear frequently in both my own and Jacqueline's poems!)
• We might consider: How is our poetry changing as we become aware of the natural world changing?
• "Every poem is a prompt"—we can experience every poem we read/hear as a prompt for our own writing—what in the poem resonates? Which words linger? What kinds of memories are conjured?
• A poem can be a space to soothe and bring comfort and also a space to be honest/confront truth, without the possibility of soothing
• Poetry is a space where we can take large, macro, abstract ideas/feelings and bring them/turn them into digestible human experiences
• Allow yourself to receive the seed of inspiration from another poem/piece of art to write your own work
• What can we learn from embodying the natural world? How can our art honor the natural world, even as we witness it dying?
• How to make art, take action, and honor the fullness of our experience— without being overwhelmed

Stay connected with Jacqueline and me 🙂

• Visit Jacqueline’s website
• Visit my website
• Order Jacqueline’s newest book, A Year in Practice (Jacqueline shared some beautiful writing prompts from this book during our conversation)
• Order my newest book, I Say the Sky (I read poems from this book during the reading) *Reminder*: If you order my book, get FREE access to seven days of meditations and writing prompts that go with it for free here
• Sign up here for Jacqueline’s newsletter on Substack
• Sign up here for my free weekly newsletter and free writing and meditation resources
• Follow Jacqueline on Instagram
• Follow me on Instagram

Three more resources on how to get involved in caring for the earth and reducing climate change:

• 50 Ways to Reduce Climate Change
• Climate Action Now
• Regeneration Project

I am so grateful to be able to share Jacqueline's important and inspiring work with you. I hope you enjoy our reading and conversation and feel moved to learn more and get involved! 

with love and gratitude,

Nadia