Grief(s): Collective, Private and Ecological Mourning

i held an atlas in my lap
ran my fingers across the whole world
and whispered
where does it hurt?

it answered
everywhere
everywhere
everywhere.

Warsan Shire, from What They Did Yesterday Afternoon

To live is to love, in all its many forms. Myriad entities become the subjects of our love: human and non-human animals, the land and water and sky. Because we love, we must suffer its corollary—loss. But how do we process the many losses we face, personal and collective, over a lifetime? Experts say that in the West our mourning rituals have diminished, even while we are confronted with increasing reasons to feel grief. Today, the world feels deeply damaged. Everywhere, it and we are hurting. In the last decade alone, we have been confronted with calamitous political violences, climate disasters, a global pandemic, and the breakdown of human rights. In these unsettling times, every flash of breaking news is enough to crack the human heart. And while we bear these, we continue to sustain personal devastation.

Can poetry help us process our grief? Can it be part of a grieving practice to help us make sense of our feelings? Can it invite us into a community of mourners who find strength in each other’s stories? In this workshop, we will examine three poems exploring different kinds of grief: collective, private and ecological. Join Julie Sutherland in a study of poems by Heid E. Erdrich (Public Grief), Jackie Kay (Darling), and Pamela Mordecai (My Sister Cries the Sea). We will close the session with a reading of Mary Oliver’s In Blackwater Woods.

Please note: This workshop is rooted in the belief that poetry has the power to heal emotional wounds, shift public attitudes towards divisive topics and improve social connectedness during times of global distress. To allow participants extra time to experience the poetry contemplatively as well as intellectually, the single session runs for 2.5 hours.

Poems and resources will be sent to participants in advance of the session.

Communal Grief: Heid E. Erdrich – Public Grief

Private Grief: Jackie Kay – Darling

Ecological Grief (Eco-Grief): Pamela Mordecai – My Sister Cries the Sea

Conclusion – Practising the Bittersweet Art of Letting Go: Mary Oliver – In Blackwater Woods

JOINING DETAILS:

• Single 2.5 hour meeting live on Zoom, led by Julie Sutherland
• Thursday, 22 October, 5.00-7.30 pm (UK time)
• £50 for single meeting, to include notes and resources