For all of us green writers, here’s a creative & green challenge that came my way this week: a new US journal; Hawk and Handsaw – the Journal of Creativity & Sustainability, is starting up and invites writers and artists of all kinds to get creative on their sense of place.
My head is already overflowing with reflections and recollections of place and belonging- five years spent in the west of Ireland, ruminating amongst lush green landscape, and trying to motivate unruly teenagers in a small-town drama group; time in Scotland, with highly motivated environmentalists munching on veggie haggis; space and adventure across the world’s deserts; and life here in Jerusalem, the centre of the universe (according to the 14th century Mappa Mundi, on display in Hereford Cathedral).
What do we want from a place ? How much should we expect a place to ‘bend’ to our needs ? And how does our imposition of a desire for a sustainable and green lifestyle impact upon where we call home ? Just a few questions that are going round my head in trying to respond to the importance of place to me, sustainably and creatively.
Green Prophet welcomes contributions on this theme as well, be they essays, photos and pictures of artworks. Let’s get creative about our sense of place.
See also next week’s conference at Tel Aviv University on poetry and the environment.
Author: James Murray-White
Growing up in a green village outside Cambridge, UK gave me an eye into the natural world, and years later, after being an actor, dramatist, weary traveller and anthropologist, the environment fires me up the most – and the need to save and nurture it… while we live within it. I now live in the UK, with partner Tania and 2 pesky cats – writing and filming the world (slowly making a documentary about the Bedouin situation) take up my creative time. I do this while growing things organically and composting profusely take up the remainder. James can be reached at james (at) greenprophet (dot) com.
