Dear Human at the Edge of Time: Poems on Climate Change in the United States
Edited by Luisa A. Igloria, Aileen Cassinetto and Jeremy S. Hoffman
ISBN: 9781734496543
Library of Congress Control Number: 2023935579
Forthcoming in Fall 2023 as a companion to NCA5*
*The National Climate Assessment (NCA) is a report to the president and Congress that “analyzes the effects of global change on the natural environment, agriculture, energy production and use, land and water resources, transportation, human health and welfare, human social systems, and biological diversity.” It is a United States government interagency ongoing effort on climate change science conducted under the auspices of the Global Change Research Act of 1990. The NCA is a major product of the U.S. Global Change Research Program (USGCRP) which coordinates a team of experts and receives input from a Federal Advisory Committee. NCA research is integrated and summarized in the mandatory ongoing National Climate Assessment Reports. The reports are extensively reviewed by the public and experts, including federal agencies and a panel of the National Academy of Sciences. The Fifth National Climate Assessment is underway and scheduled for release in Fall 2023.
DEAR HUMAN AT THE EDGE OF TIME: POEMS ON CLIMATE CHANGE IN THE UNITED STATES is forthcoming from Paloma Press in Fall 2023, as a companion to the congressionally mandated Fifth National Climate Assessment (NCA5)!
The editors wish to thank everyone who submitted their work for consideration. The anthology features a Foreword from Claire Wahmanholm, and an Afterword from Sam Illingworth; and showcases the work of over 70 poets and scientists including Aimee Nezhukumatathil, Angela Narciso Torres, Craig Santos Perez, Eileen Tabios, January Gill O’Neil, Khaty Xiong, Lee Ann Roripaugh, Maw Shein Win, Molly Fisk, Rajiv Mohabir, Sony Ton-time, Union of Concerned Scientists director Erika Spanger-Siegfried, ecologist Catherine Hulshof De La Peña, Jefferson Lab senior physicist Mac Mestayer, and our current U.S. Poet Laureate Ada Limón.
One way to institute sustainable change is to affect policy. As Dr Jeremy Hoffman and team work to present the fifth congressionally mandated National Climate Assessment (NCA5) report to President Biden and Congress, we, the editors present this anthology as an additional opportunity to participate in the NCA5, by humanizing our communities’ stories of climate justice and stories of resilience alongside this scientific information. We believe that our stories shared through poetry have the power to unite our communities, sow the seeds of structural change, and inspire compassionate and equitable solutions across our differences.
As we approach the anthology’s release date, we will be scheduling readings, panel discussions and related events to encourage broader conversations around climate justice, and highlight our human connections as we engage with our present realities. In addition to the print anthology, featured poems will appear on the Science Museum of Virginia website. Dear Human at the Edge of Time grew out of the Academy of American Poets Laureate civic projects, and is made possible with generous support from the Science Museum of Virginia.
PALOMA PRESS 