On Sunday, June 26 from 4:30pm – 6:30pm, Rye Harbour Discovery Centre will present the book Wild Correspondings, an eco-poetry sourcebook. It was created by the eco-poets, Clare Whistler and Kay Syrad known collectively as kin’d & kin’d, and is based on a correspondence course, Connections while Solituding run over the lockdowns of 2020 and connected to Knepp Wildland, the pioneering re-wilding estate in West Sussex.
Wild Correspondings takes the form of “Call & Response”. The calls – writing guidelines, objects and natural materials were sent each fortnight to 20 contributors, including a number of award-winning poets. The book is a record of both those calls and the poets’ responses – heartfelt letters, extraordinary poems and visual artefacts.
The culmination is this rich resource for all those interested in connection with the more-than-human world around them.
The collective name kin’d & kin’d describes the connection with other beings (human and non-human) in an attitude or aspiration of kindness. “We – Clare Whistler and Kay Syrad – create site-specific collaborative poems which we call ‘exposures’ and since 2018 have led a series of eco-poetry workshops and courses under the titles ‘Changing Everything Carefully and Field Fairing’ for ONCA Gallery in Brighton.”
Kay Syrad is the former poetry editor of the longstanding journal Envoi with three collections of poetry.
Clare Whistler is a collaborative artist in movement, text and performance. She is also co-founder of the award-winning annual WaterWeek event.
The book can be bought direct from Elephant Press – 01424 892 304
Rye Harbour Discovery Centre, Rye Harbour Road, TN31 7FW
Image Credits: Barry Yates .