What happens when a poet, photographer, artist, and mycologist come together to work in Wisconsin at a research center in a very pristine forest? In short: magic. And a collection of (eco)poetry – a type of poetry that, according to one of our guests, investigates formally and thematically the relation between nature and culture, language and perception.

Today’s guests are Forrest Gander (Professor Emeritus at Brown University), a Pulitzer award-winning poet, and Anne Pringle (University of Wisconsin-Madison), a prominent mycologist. Even though their career paths seem completely different on the surface, they are both concerned with the climate crisis, ecology, and human relationship with nature. Can we, as humans, abandon our anthropocentric perspective when studying organisms that do not resemble us at all? What can organisms like lichen teach us about our interdependence? How does a poet express the multitudes of non-human subjectivities? 

This episode is not only for poetry enthusiasts. Apart from talking about lyricism, metaphors, and postmodernism, we discuss the way in which science shapes our worldview and how lichens can provoke deep reflections on human intimacy and mortality.

Host: Maria Łusakowska, Faculty of Modern Languages at the University of Warsaw

Guests: Prof. Forrest Gander (Professor Emeritus at Brown University) and Prof. Anne Pringle (University of Wisconsin-Madison)

Mentioned in this episode:

"The Persistence of Dispersed Worlds" lecture on YouTube

Poets mentioned by Forrest Gander:

Inger Christensen

Zoë Skoulding

Harriet Tarlo

Anja Utler

Coral Bracho

Alfonso D'Aquino

Yaxkin Melchy

John Kinsella

Stuart Cooke

Julia Fiedorczuk

Mats Söderlund 

Cecilia Vicuña

Raúl Zurita

Brenda Hillman

Jorie Graham

Sade “Pearls”

Pablo Neruda "Explico algunas cosas"

“Twice Alive” by Forrest Gander translated to Polish by Julia Fiedorczuk as “Podwojone życie”

John Ashbery

C.D. Wright

If you liked this episode you can give us five stars, subscribe, or simply recommend it to your friends.

NeoTalk is the official podcast of the Faculty of Modern Languages at the University of Warsaw. You can find us on ⁠Instagram ⁠or ⁠Facebook⁠.

You can also write to us at [email protected]