We are thrilled to share that poetry from the anthology Dear Human at the Edge of Time which served as a companion to the Fifth National Climate Assessment (NCA5), co-edited by Luisa A. Igloria, Aileen Cassinetto, and Jeremy S. Hoffman in 2023, will be featured at the inaugural Resilient California Summit, October 20–22, 2026, at the SAFE Credit Union Convention Center in Sacramento!
Organized by the Governor’s Office of Land Use and Climate Innovation, the summit is the first ever statewide gathering of leaders, scientists, policymakers, culture bearers, and communities working toward a more climate-resilient California.
As part of the summit, poems from the anthology and NCA5 will be on display throughout the conference, including works by Ada Limón, Anna Sims Bartel, Amanda M. Blake, Cassandra Bousquet, Cynthia Buiza, Caitlin Gildrien, David S. Maduli, Susanne C. Moser, Craig Santos Perez, Aman Rahman, Chelsea Rathburn, Kim Shuck, Brian Sonia-Wallace, Wendi White, and Khaty Xiong. The summit also highlights a participatory resilient future banner painting with Autumn Harry and David Solnit.
On October 21 at 5:15pm, the summit’s second day will conclude at the California State Capitol, West Steps, with a special evening program featuring California Arts Council Executive Director Danielle Brazell, a pep rally led by artist Amanda Lovelee, and poetry by Aileen Cassinetto and Cassandra Bousquet, to be followed by a panel discussion on poetry and climate change at the Sacramento Poetry Center at 7pm moderated by Tiff Dressen of UC Berkeley.
We’re truly grateful to see poetry included in this inaugural convening which will also mark the public release of California’s Fifth Climate Change Assessment. It’s a continuation of the conversations we hoped to encourage through “Dear Human at Future’s Edge: Science, Creativity and Climate Futures,” a conference organized and hosted by UC Berkeley, and the interactive “Dear Human” microsite developed by David Hassler, Each+Every, Poets for Science, and the Wick Poetry Center at Kent State University. These initiatives reflect our hope that poetry might have a place alongside science and policy as we imagine and work toward a more resilient future.
“Homecoming: A Pep Rally for the Planet” at the State Capitol on October 21 at 5:15 PM is free and open to the public.
