A workshop exploring ecofeminism, climate change and Pakistani women’s poetry with the opportunity to practice your writing skills.

This one hour workshop will give you an introduction to ecofeminism, Pakistani women’s poetry and how this relates to climate change. It will show how ecofeminist perspectives shift from seeing nature as a source to extract from, to one which honours the sacredness of nature and our interconnection to all beings and the environment. It will explore Pakistani women’s poetry and knowledge structures which are based on an innate understanding of interconnection with nature and nature as a source of wisdom and wonder.

This workshop will look to answer the questions:

• What is ecofeminism?
• How does this relate to climate change?
• What can we learn from South Asian ecofeminism?
• How is ecofeminism articulated in Pakistani poetry?

The workshop will consist of a brief introduction to ecofeminist perspectives and how they relate to Pakistan, followed by shared poetry readings. We will look at several Pakistan women’s poems looking at themes around connection between land and life. Participants will then be guided through a free writing task based on environmental prompts.

Expect a relaxed, informal and interactive session guided by facilitator Manjot Kaur Dhaliwal who will help participants develop writing skills through feedback and shared learning. Participants will be provided with printed poetry to follow along with poetry readings and will need to bring pencils/pens and paper to write on.

About Manjot

Manjot Kaur Dhaliwal is a PhD researcher and doctoral tutor at the University of Sussex. Her research focuses on poetry as a method for understanding identity and the exploration of family histories as tool to create a broader understanding of history. Manjot holds an MA Gender Studies from the University of Sussex, an MTeach from Griffith University and a BA Sociology from the University of Western Ontario.

Donations

This event is part of a wider events programme aimed at raising funds to support the Pakistan flood relief efforts. It’s drop-in and free to attend but donations are strongly encouraged. All proceeds will go to WDF (Women Democratic Front) a Pakistan-based, independent socialist-feminist resistance movement, providing aid to communities affected by flooding since 2018.