“Planet in Peril”: an anthology for our time.

There has never been a more critical moment in this planet’s history. Ecosystems and species stand upon the precipice of extinction and await human action. Spurred by the urgency of the situation, Fly on the Wall Press has teamed up with WWF, The Climate Coalition, Dr Michelle Cain (Oxford University), former Derbyshire Poet Laureate, Helen Mort, and wildlife photographer, Emily Gellard, to create an anthology for our future.

Credit: Emily Gellard Photography

“Planet in Peril” will combine beautiful photography of endangered species and delicate ecosystems, with poetry designed to increase public awareness of the complex issues surrounding climate change. Submissions will open for poets on January 28th 2019. Photography and poetry alike will reflect the damage already done to our planet and the urgency of the call to action, while the stark realities will be factually laid out with the support of Dr Cain. Fly on the Wall Press will welcome poetry submissions which explore personal connections to the planet and reflections on the damage inflicted on it by humanity.

This project will extend beyond print media, however. Our children and our children’s children will have to live with the potentially irreversible effects of climate change. Consequently, Fly on the Wall Press proposes a number of initiatives intended to involve and educate children of all ages in this project. First, the anthology will preserve a section for twenty poems submitted by writers under the age of 18. Submissions in this category will be invited through communication with schools across Greater Manchester and Derbyshire initially. In addition, a poetry workshop for young writers, aged 15-18, (“Raise Your Voice”) will take place in Manchester’s Northern Quarter on Saturday 9th March 2019. Following the anthology’s launch in Autumn 2019, Fly on the Wall Press will reach out to primary age children through workshops designed to engage them in poetry writing and art inspired by the book and its themes.

The book’s launch will include an exhibition of its photography and poems to be held in Manchester, giving the wider public the opportunity to engage with the project’s themes and to document their responses to it.

Submissions will open here in January.

Enquiries should be addressed to isabellekenyon@hotmail.co.uk

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