DEAR HUMAN AT THE EDGE OF TIME: POEMS ON CLIMATE CHANGE IN THE UNITED STATES (Paloma Press, 2023) is a companion to the Fifth National Climate Assessment (NCA5), and was created out of the need to tell our human stories alongside the science of the NCA5. Edited by 2021 Academy of American Poets Laureate Fellows Luisa A. Igloria and Aileen Cassinetto & NCA5 Chapter Lead Dr. Jeremy S. Hoffman, it features the work of 70+ poets and scientists. The anthology was presented at the AGU23: American Geophysical Union’s Annual Meeting at Moscone Center attended by over 26,000 scientists from 100+ countries, as well as the Exploratorium co-sponsored by the U.S. Global Change Research Program (USGCRP). An Earth Day video was released by the AGU in April 2024 exploring our “profound connection to the Earth and the responsibility we bear as stewards of its delicate ecosystems.” We have also partnered with Poets for Science and Wick Poetry Center in developing the Dear Human interactive microsite featuring poems from the anthology, Art x Climate artworks, and passages from NCA5 to invite the public to “share their voice in addressing climate change and exploring how the intersection of science and art can foster creativity, innovation, and discovery.” To date, we have collaborated with over 30 public and private organizations to help launch and promote this project.
The anthology won the 2023 American Book Fest Best Book Award, as well as praise from President Joe Biden, California Senator Josh Becker, Jane Hirshfield, and the Academy of American Poets. Please check out forthcoming events or email editor [at] palomapress.org for more information.
Praise from President Joe Biden
“As we celebrate the rollout of the Fifth National Climate Assessment, let this inspiring collection be a reminder that there is nothing beyond our capacity if we work together.”
—President Joe Biden
AGU Dear Human Earth Day 2024
Gallery
Events
August 31, 2023, at 4pm Pacific/7pm Eastern
BOOK LAUNCH: Dear Human at the Edge of Time
Join the virtual book launch and poetry reading on August 31st, Thursday, at 4pmPT/7pm ET, hosted by the South San Francisco Public Library and co-sponsored by the Institute for Coastal Adaptation & Resilience (ICAR) at Old Dominion University and The Academy of American Poets. This event is free and open to the public. Registration is required.
Featuring:
Ada Limón, U.S. Poet Laureate
Aileen Cassinetto, co-editor & San Mateo County Poet Laureate Emerita
Angela Narciso Torres, author of What Happens Is Neither (Four Way Books 2021)
Claire Wahmanholm, author of Meltwater (Milkweed Editions, 2023)
Eileen R. Tabios, author of The Inventor (Marsh Hawk Press, 2023)
Erika Spanger, Director of Strategic Climate Analytics in the Climate and Energy program at the Union of Concerned Scientists
Ernesto L. Abeytia, Spanish-American poet and educator
Jeremy S. Hoffman, co-editor and Lead Scientist, Fifth National Climate Assessment
Jessica C. Whitehead, Joan P. Brock Endowed Executive Director, Institute for Coastal Adaptation & Resilience (ICAR)
Lee Ann Roripaugh, author of tsunami vs. the fukushima 50 (Milkweed Editions, 2019), NYPL’s Best Book of 2019
Luisa A. Igloria, co-editor and Poet Laureate of the Commonwealth of Virginia, Emerita
Mac Mestayer, former Jefferson Lab experimental physicist
Rajiv Mohabir, author of Cutlish (Four Way Books 2021), winner of the Eric Hoffer Medal Provocateur award
Renato Redentor Constantino, Deputy Chair of the Expert Advisory Group of the 58-government Climate Vulnerable Forum
Sam Illingworth, Chief Executive Editor of Geoscience Communication
Sony Ton-Aime, Michael I. Rudell Director of Literary Arts at Chautauqua Institution
September 30, 2023, Saturday, 1pm to 3pm
Dear Human at the Edge of Time: Poems on Climate Change in the United States
WEST COAST BOOK LAUNCH & READING
Clarion, 2 Waverley Pl, San Francisco
Co-sponsored by the Clarion Performing Arts Center, Paloma Press and Poets & Writers, Inc. This event is free and open to the public.
Featuring:
Aileen Cassinetto, anthology co-editor
Molly Fisk, editor of California Fire & Water (2020)
Clara Hsu, founder & executive director of Clarion Performing Arts Center
Marisa Lin, 2023 Poetry Fellow at UC Berkeley’s Arts Research Center
Karen Llagas, author of All of Us Are Cleaved (Nomadic Press, 2023)
David S. Maduli, Joy Harjo Poetry Prize recipient
Jeanine Pfeiffer, ethnoecologist
Jordan Sher, author of And Still We Rise: A Novel about the Genocide in Bosnia (2021)
Kim Shuck, 7th Poet Laureate of San Francisco
Maw Shein Win, Inaugural Poet Laureate of El Cerrito
October 25, 2023
Midwest Climate Resilience Conference
Duluth Entertainment Convention Center
Duluth, MN
November 14, 2023, 3pm-5pm EST
White House Climate Impacts Discussion
Dear Human co-editor & NCA5 Chapter Lead Dr. Jeremy S. Hoffman will participate in the Fifth National Climate Assessment Rollout.
November 16, 2023, 10am-4pm CST
University of Nebraska's Communicating Complexity virtual symposium
Dear Human at the Edge of Time: Poetry as a Vessel for Enriching Climate Change Dialogue: Bradley Allf, Aileen Cassinetto, Jeanine Pfeiffer
December 1, 2023
Launch of the Dear Human interactive microsite by Wick Poetry Center/Kent State University, in partnership with Poets for Science. The microsite will be presented at AGU23 and Exploratorium After Dark, and will feature poetry prompts, Art x Climate artworks and text from NCA5. The public will be invited to post responses that can be mapped and translated into other languages.
December 11-15, 2023
AGU23: American Geophysical Union's Annual Meeting
Moscone Center, San Francisco
December 11, 8:30am
SY11C-0832 Dear Human at the Edge of Time - a climate change-focused poetry anthology to accompany the Fifth National Climate Assessment
Abstract authors: Jeremy Hoffman, Luisa A. Igloria & Aileen Cassinetto
Poster Hall A-C - South (Exhibition Level, South, MC)
December 14, 9am
INV41C - Poets for Science at AGU: Building a Community Poem
Conveners: Aileen Cassinetto, David Hassler, Jane Hirshfield, Jeremy Hoffman, Kate Semmens
Hall E - North (Exhibition Level, North, MC)
December 14, 2023, 6pm-10pm
Art x Climate After Dark at the Exploratorium SF
Pier 15, Embarcadero
Co-sponsored by the U.S. Global Research Program, featuring readings by Jane Hirshfield, Aileen Cassinetto & Jeremy S. Hoffman, Art x Climate artworks, and the Dear Human interactive microsite in partnership with Wick Poetry Center/Poets for Science.
January 6, 2024, 1pm-2:30pm PST
PAWA hosts Dear Human Reading & Panel
Featuring Mary Grace Bertulfo, Cynthia Buiza, Aileen Cassinetto, Everett Cruz, Luisa A. Igloria, Karen Llagas, David S. Maduli, Eileen R. Tabios, Angela Narciso Torres, with poet-musician ZOS!MO (Zosimo Quibilan, Jr.)
Hosted by the Philippine American Writers and Artists, Inc (PAWA) and the San Francisco Public Library's Filipino American Center
January 10, 2024, 6pm-7pm PST
Burlingame Public Library presents Community Poetry Open Mic Series:
Dear Human: Poets on Climate Change featuring Aileen Cassinetto and Cassandra Bousquet
Lane Community Room
February 10, 2024, 12-1pm EST
Mindfulness Walk with Luisa A. Igloria and Kindra McDonald, hosted by Elizabeth River Trail.
Meet at the Mallory Country Club, 907 Weyanoke St, Norfolk, VA 23507
February 10, 2024, 5pm-7pm
EAST COAST BOOK LAUNCH
Elizabeth River Project hosts Dear Human at the Edge of Time at the Ryan Resilience Lab
4610 Colley Ave, Norfolk, Virginia
Featuring anthology co-editors Dr. Luisa A. Igloria and Dr. Jeremy S. Hoffman, contributors Gail Giewont, Kindra McDonald Greene, Lesley Wheeler & Denise Wilcox, and ODU Institute for Coastal Adaptation and Resilience Executive Director Dr. Jessica Whitehead
February 16, 2024, 7:30pm-9:30pm CST
Soul Bone Literary Festival
Midwest Book Launch of Dear Human at the Edge of Time: Poems on Climate Change n the United States featuring MG Bertulfo, Luisa A. Igloria, Molly Fisk, January Gill O'Neill, and Claire Wahmanholm
April 16, 2024, 1-5:30pm PDT
DEAR HUMAN AT FUTURE’S EDGE: SCIENCE, CREATIVITY, AND CLIMATE FUTURES CONFERENCE
Banatao Auditorium & Kvamme Atrium, 310 Sutardja Dai Hall UC Berkeley
PANELS:
The Imagination of the Data, the Data in the Imagination; Decolonial Voices and Knowledge at Future’s Edge; American Poets Imagine the Edge of Time; Poetry Reading
PARTICIPANTS:
Bruce Riordan, Debarati Sanyal, Linda Rugg, Aileen Cassinetto, Alice Plane, Allyza Lustig, Anand Varman, Brian Sonia-Wallace, Claire Wahmanholm, Cecil Giscombe, Craig Santos Perez, David Hassler, John Shoptaw, Karen Llagas, Kim Shuck, Luisa A. Igloria, Marisa Lin, Maw Shein Win, Sarah Vaughn, Shreya Chaudhuri, Tiff Dressen
Free & open to the public. Lunch at noon & reception at 4:30pm. Sponsored by the Office of the Vice Chancellor for Research, Environmental Arts and Humanities Initiative, Center for Interdisciplinary Critical Inquiry, and Berkeley Climate Change Network.
April 18, 2024, 6-7:30pm PDT
EARTH DAY PANEL: INNOVATORS CREATING SUSTAINABLE CITIES
Meeting Room, 4th Floor, Mechanics’ Institute, 57 Post St., SF
April 23, 2024, 1-2:30pm PDT
EARTH WEEK CELEBRATING DEAR HUMAN & THE NCA5
Skyline College Library, 2nd Floor, Bldg 5
April 30, 2024, 11:45am-12:30pm PDT
DEAR HUMAN POETRY READING & WORKSHOP
Nueva High School, Writing & Research Center
San Mateo Campus
131 E. 28th Ave., San Mateo
July 21, 2024, 1-3pm PDT
EVERYBODY'S CLIMATE 2024
San Francisco Main Library
100 Larkin St SF
Latino/Hispanic Meeting Room
November 11, 2024, 7pm EST
The New England Poetry Club presents "An Evening With Luisa A. Igloria, Aileen Cassinetto, Diane Seuss, and Martha Silano"
Register to join.
Aileen Cassinetto 