Virtual Book Launch, 31 AUG (Thursday)
Friends, join us for the virtual book launch of
DEAR HUMAN AT THE EDGE OF TIME: POEMS ON CLIMATE CHANGE IN THE UNITED STATES—
August 31, Thursday, at 4pm Pacific / 7pm Eastern,
hosted by the South San Francisco Public Library,
and co-sponsored by the Institute for Coastal Adaptation & Resilience (ICAR) at Old Dominion University
South San Francisco Public Library will send your zoom link for joining; register here (required).
In the U.S., the congressionally mandated Fifth National Climate Assessment (NCA5) report is currently in development, and groups of scientists from all over the country and Caribbean are overseeing the synthesis of published research for regional and topic-specific chapters. DEAR HUMAN AT THE EDGE OF TIME, an anthology of poems on climate change in the United States, edited by Luisa A. Igloria, Aileen Cassinetto, & Jeremy Hoffman, is offered as a companion to NCA5, and an additional opportunity to participate in the urgent conversations on environmental justice.
Featuring:
Ada Limón, U.S. Poet Laureate
Ernesto L. Abeytia, Spanish-American poet and educator
Aileen Cassinetto, co-editor & San Mateo County Poet Laureate Emerita
Jeremy S. Hoffman, co-editor and Chapter Lead, Fifth National Climate Assessment (NCA5)
Luisa A. Igloria, co-editor and Poet Laureate of the Commonwealth of Virginia, Emerita
Sam Illingworth, Chief Executive Editor of Geoscience Communication
Mac Mestayer, former Jefferson Lab experimental physicist
Rajiv Mohabir, author of Whale Aria (Four Way Books 2023)
Lee Ann Roripaugh, author of tsunami vs. the fukushima 50 (Milkweed Editions, 2019), NYPL's Best Book of 2019
Erika Spanger, Director of Strategic Climate Analytics in the Climate and Energy program at the Union of Concerned Scientists
Eileen R. Tabios, author of The Inventor (Marsh Hawk Press, 2023)
Sony Ton-Aime, Michael I. Rudell Director of Literary Arts at Chautauqua Institution
Angela Narciso Torres, author of What Happens Is Neither (Four Way Books 2021)
Claire Wahmanholm, author of Meltwater (Milkweed Editions, 2023)
Jessica C. Whitehead, Joan P. Brock Endowed Executive Director, Institute for Coastal Adaptation & Resilience (ICAR)
DEAR HUMAN AT THE EDGE OF TIME: POEMS ON CLIMATE CHANGE IN THE UNITED STATES—
August 31, Thursday, at 4pm Pacific / 7pm Eastern,
hosted by the South San Francisco Public Library,
and co-sponsored by the Institute for Coastal Adaptation & Resilience (ICAR) at Old Dominion University
South San Francisco Public Library will send your zoom link for joining; register here (required).
In the U.S., the congressionally mandated Fifth National Climate Assessment (NCA5) report is currently in development, and groups of scientists from all over the country and Caribbean are overseeing the synthesis of published research for regional and topic-specific chapters. DEAR HUMAN AT THE EDGE OF TIME, an anthology of poems on climate change in the United States, edited by Luisa A. Igloria, Aileen Cassinetto, & Jeremy Hoffman, is offered as a companion to NCA5, and an additional opportunity to participate in the urgent conversations on environmental justice.
Featuring:
Ada Limón, U.S. Poet Laureate
Ernesto L. Abeytia, Spanish-American poet and educator
Aileen Cassinetto, co-editor & San Mateo County Poet Laureate Emerita
Jeremy S. Hoffman, co-editor and Chapter Lead, Fifth National Climate Assessment (NCA5)
Luisa A. Igloria, co-editor and Poet Laureate of the Commonwealth of Virginia, Emerita
Sam Illingworth, Chief Executive Editor of Geoscience Communication
Mac Mestayer, former Jefferson Lab experimental physicist
Rajiv Mohabir, author of Whale Aria (Four Way Books 2023)
Lee Ann Roripaugh, author of tsunami vs. the fukushima 50 (Milkweed Editions, 2019), NYPL's Best Book of 2019
Erika Spanger, Director of Strategic Climate Analytics in the Climate and Energy program at the Union of Concerned Scientists
Eileen R. Tabios, author of The Inventor (Marsh Hawk Press, 2023)
Sony Ton-Aime, Michael I. Rudell Director of Literary Arts at Chautauqua Institution
Angela Narciso Torres, author of What Happens Is Neither (Four Way Books 2021)
Claire Wahmanholm, author of Meltwater (Milkweed Editions, 2023)
Jessica C. Whitehead, Joan P. Brock Endowed Executive Director, Institute for Coastal Adaptation & Resilience (ICAR)
DEAR HUMAN AT THE EDGE OF TIME: POEMS ON CLIMATE CHANGE IN THE UNITED STATES is forthcoming from Paloma Press in September, as a companion to the congressionally mandated Fifth National Climate Assessment (NCA5*).
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, Khaty Xiong, Lee Ann Roripaugh, Eileen Tabios, Brian Turner, January Gill O'Neil, Maw Shein Win, Molly Fisk, Rajiv Mohabir, Dave Bonta, Lesley Wheeler, Sony Ton-AIme, 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.
I'm so grateful for my wonderful co-editors Aileen Cassinetto (Poet Laureate of San Mateo County, Emerita) and Dr. Jeremy Hoffman, Cohn Scientist at the Science Museum of Virginia and NCA5 Southeast Lead Scientist for the past 8 months.
As Jeremy and team present the NCA5 report to President Biden and Congress, Aileen, Jeremy and I offer 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 our stories shared through poetry have the power to unite our communities, sow the seeds of structural change, inspire hope and compassionate and equitable solutions across our differences.
“Dear Human at the Edge of Time” grew out of our Academy of American Poets Laureate civic projects.
Disclaimer:
No part of this project was initiated by the Science Museum of Virginia, the US Global Change Research Program (USGCRP), National Climate Assessment (NCA), or the US Government. Likewise, the Editors and Publisher act only in their individual capacities for this project, and not as representatives of the Science Museum of Virginia, USGCRP, NCA, or the US Government.
* More background on the US Global Change Research Program and NCA5 is available here (highlights excerpted).
The U.S. Global Change Research Program (USGCRP) was established by Presidential initiative in 1989 and mandated by Congress in the Global Change Research Act (GCRA) of 1990. Its mandate is to develop and coordinate “a comprehensive and integrated United States research program which will assist the Nation and the world to understand, assess, predict, and respond to human-induced and natural processes of global change.”
. . .
In addition to an annual report to Congress and a Strategic Plan, the GCRA mandates that USGCRP prepare and submit to the President and the Congress a quadrennial assessment, referred to as the National Climate Assessment (NCA), which:
- Integrate[s], evaluate[s], and interpret[s] the findings of the Program and discuss[es] the scientific uncertainties associated with such findings
- Analyze[s] 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
NCA5 Engagement
USGCRP recognizes that a robust public engagement strategy is vital to developing a National Climate Assessment that is relevant to its users. The NCA5 process is designed to be transparent and inclusive, offering multiple opportunities for public participation. As in previous assessments, NCA5 will offer public calls for authors and for input on other key aspects of its development. In addition, NCA5 will undergo an extensive, multi-phase review process that will engage the public. This approach is designed to result in a report that is transparent, inclusive, and authoritative; valued by authors and users; and accessible to the widest possible audience….”