Category: Ecology of the absurd

Ecology of the absurd, Psychedelic Collapse

Slow burning bestseller: introducing Climate Collapse? -Calls to Action from Around the World

!Epic Tomorrows

Under the pen name Mathew Azouley, one of the COTW editors has successfully edited his first book, Climate Collapse? -Calls to Action from Around the World.

He wrote this promo text for the ebook purchase page:

In ‘Climate Collapse? Calls to Action from Around the World’, diverse global authors have come together to share their perspectives and solutions regarding the climate crisis and the deeper ecological crisis of modern civilisation, which some argue is leading to global societal collapse. Building on the success of their previous anthology Climate Adaptation, Arkbound is platforming an eclectic mix of writing styles and levels for this new collection, from a famous climate scientist, scholars and activists like Dr Bill McGuire, Brian Tokar and Dr Gail Bradbrook, to unknown and first-time authors from the Global South, who bring their vital lived experiences to bear on what is bound to be a challenging future ahead for all of us. Forget the climate COPs!

There were some glitches with getting the ebook ready on time for the anti-COP promotion that was planned. Nevertheless, Mathew intends to promote this book consistently over the months to make it into a slow burning bestseller. If you would like to collaborate on this, or co-promote something aligned that you have worked on or are working on, feel free to get in touch.

Ecology of the absurd, Modern poetry is anarchism

So Big the Sun

!Epic Tomorrows

Parents left alone eat leaves

peel their dreams

so big the sun

in their throat

there is still a struggle

a count

a weapon

a garland

let`s go

I will tell what I see

*

we open our doors

the tornado is a locomotive

with debris

we want to help children

from the sky

*

it was incredible

in the basement, we could hear the wind

when we got back up

we were outside

*

all the steam

of life

when it disassembles

is fear

facing the deadline

*

can I sit here

on this gnarled trunk

do you have everything you need

you touched my heart

*

the child draws a sentence from the bowl

it is written:

*

“You have to understand humans,

bury them outside under the magnifying glass of the elders

who doze under the tree and push away our bodies

which get whiter and whiter“

Ecology of the absurd, Modern poetry is anarchism

Black

!Epic Tomorrows


did you desire for this?
that your life
should end like this
in the glory of despair?
did you know that as you soared into the air
that this was your last flight,
your eagle-like wings would weigh
you down?

*
I expect it crossed your hopeless mind
that you as bird
rates less than zero
on the scale of global concern

*
that the pilot
trained in the beauty of death
rates a more grand funeral
than yours
heavy with oil
sinking
in a dark black sea.

Written by Sarah Morris

Author`s note:

I was living in Chester in the early 90’s — the energy of the dance scene coming into its own — when  on the television (with only four channels) came the news item about the Panama Oil Slick. The image is still with me today of the Pelican covered in oil, helpless and on their last flight. It struck me that nobody cared for them, but pilots who also fly, are honoured when they die. 

Ecology of the absurd

Amitav Ghosh, Uncanny & Improbable Events, Book Recommendation / Call for Submissions to COTW

!Epic Tomorrows

Is it not true that the whole media landscape as well as the whole publishing landscape and arts landscape should be pervaded by the climate crisis, and the meta crisis of political economy and civilisation of which the climate crisis is a symptom? In ‘Uncanny & Improbable Events’ Amitav Ghosh does a good job of explaining some of the reasons why the climate crisis is not being sufficiently addressed in the field of literature, not least of them being that the crisis seems too improbable, too unlikely in its specific instances, to feature in any literary fiction –that is, unless you are an extraordinarily gifted author able to communicate the total effects of events as horrific as, for instance, the recent floodings and deaths in Libya, when two dams broke in quick succession.

Here at the Centre of the Web, we intend to raise up and spread widely all literature that deals with the climate crisis. We will do this with the help of the growing YouTube platform Epic Tomorrows. All ideas are welcome, especially with a literary focus on the decentralisation of political power globally, in order to meet the climate crisis head on. Authoritarianism fails us. Capitalism fails us. In the end we will have only ourselves, our neighbours and our localities to save us, and if we’re lucky, the internet: let us use this precious resource while we are still able.

Please spread the word about Centre of The Web. We are currently open to submissions of all kinds (excluding poetry, unless you are extraordinarily gifted).