“The Nature of Our Times,” the new book from the Poets for Science initiative at Kent State University’s Wick Poetry Center, will be the subject of an upcoming Tap Talk at North Water Brewing Company.
Tap Talks are sponsored by the Kent Historical Society monthly at 7 p.m. at North Water Brewing, 101 Crain Ave., Kent.
On Dec. 9, David Hassler, the Bob and Walt Wick Executive Director of the Wick Poetry Center, will share poems, videos, photos and artwork highlighting America’s lands, waters, wildlife and natural wonders from “The Nature of Our Times,” the recently published anthology of poems that he coedited.
“The Wick Poetry Center launched the ‘Poets for Science’ initiative to bring poetry into the service of science and offer another way of knowing and affirming our emotional kinship with the world around us,” Hassler told Kent State Today. “’ The Nature of Our Times’ anthology is a result of that initiative.”
The anthology gathers 210 voices from the arts, ecology, academia and Indigenous communities from North America, giving witness to how nature shapes our lives and how we can shape the future, Hassler said. The book is a companion to “United By Nature,” a national initiative that brings together knowledge, storytelling and public participation to elevate the role of nature in the United States.
Tap Talks was initiated by Don Schjeldahl, the creator of North Water Brewing, as a way to bring the community together for conversation about life in Kent, Kent’s history, and issues of the day that impact everyone, while providing the chance to enjoy an array of locally-brewed artisan ales and beers.
The Tap Talk is one of many book-launch events and poetry readings planned around the country to introduce “The Nature of Our Times,” published by Paloma Press, Hassler said.
Hassler will discuss the Poets for Science initiative, which puts the Wick Poetry Center on a national stage.