Rishi Dastidar’s poems in Neptune’s Projects (2023) conjure up the water world of the forgotten god. To experience how poetry stimulates our aquatic awareness in times of global warming, Dastidar will perform his poems and the participants will respond with other aquatic verses to pull out themes and unexpected resonances.

Join us for an hour to float in some water-y poems. Research in ecosystems tells us about floating pollutants, depleting freshwater reservoirs, rising sea levels, ocean acidification, collapse of coastal-river-delta environments, floods, droughts, and mass extinction of aquatic life. Poetry offers us a way to absorb the water crisis deeply into our consciousness. Rishi Dastidar’s poems invite us to notice all kinds of aquatic scenarios, be it in the film 2001 or WhatsApps; in art galleries or preparedness manuals. One thing is for sure, Neptune’s Projects does not take us to Homer’s wine dark sea but to an “angry whiskey living boiling” one.

A poem from Rishi Dastidar’s Laurel Prize long-listed third collection, Neptune’s Projects (Nine Arches Press), was included in The Forward Book of Poetry 2024. He is editor of The Craft: A Guide to Making Poetry Happen in the 21st Century (Nine Arches Press), and co-editor of Too Young, Too Loud, Too Different: Poems from Malika’s Poetry Kitchen (Corsair). He also reviews poetry for The Guardian (UK) and is chair of Wasafiri, a British magazine for international contemporary writing. Driven by a ‘maximally hysterically realist’ approach, his work aims to satirically explore, amongst other subjects, contradictions in contemporary capitalism, identity politics and national belonging, and the emotional attachments created by popular culture.

All are welcome to listen and share their thoughts. We hope to see you there!

Special Guest: 

Rishi Dastidar

Participants:

Barbara Barrow (Associate Professor) | Monika Class (Associate Professor) | Cian Duffy (Professor) | Jorunn Joiner (Doctoral Candidate) | Mari Komnæs (Doctoral Candidate) | David Lorenz (Senior Lecturer) | Lene Nordum (Associate Professor) | John Öwre (Senior Lecturer) | Elena de Wachter (Doctoral Candidate) | Linda Šubertová (Doctoral Candidate, University of Ostrava)

The event is organised by members of English studies at the Centre for Languages and Literature, which is part of the Joint Faculties of Humanities and Theology, Lund University. 

 

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This event is part of Sustainability Week 2024, an annual event organized in collaboration between Lund University and Lund Municipality. In this year's program April 8-13, you will find lectures, workshops, guided tours, exhibitions, and more.

See full program at hallbarhet.lu.se