New York writer Daniela Gioseffi, current poetry fellow at Wellspring House in Ashfield, has been an activist all her life. In the 1960s, she was a Civil Rights worker and television journalist in Selma, Ala. In the 1970s, she was part of the eco-feminism movement. Her book, “Women on War: An International Anthology of Writings from Antiquity to the Present,” won the American Book Award in 1990. At 75, Gioseffi is still going strong, her passions turned toward activism and education on the topic of climate change.
Gioseffi will be the featured reader at the 6th Ann Hutt Browning Poetry Series, a contest for youth poets that culminates in a reading Wednesday at 7 p.m. at St. John’s Episcopal Church, at the corners of Main and Church streets in Ashfield. The contest honors poet Ann Hutt Browning, who with her husband Preston founded Wellspring House as a retreat for writers and artists.
Judges Carol Purington, Jody Cothey, Susie Patlove and Jan Freeman will determine winners in two age levels: 12- to 14- and 15- to 18-year-olds. Ashfield resident Bill Ryan will be playing the harp before the reading, and Allen Gabriel, a past winner, will perform a rap poem. Winners’ poems will be compiled into a booklet that will be handed out at the reading.
Gioseffi will also be leading a workshop on environmental writing at Wellspring House, 284 Main St. in Ashfield, Sunday from 2 to 5 p.m.
Writers of both prose and poetry are welcome. Gioseffi will be offering writing prompts and talking about positive solutions for climate change. For more information, call Wellspring House owner and host Preston Browning at 413-628-4484.
Stepping up to
climate change
“I don’t think people understand how dire climate change is,” Gioseffi says. “How little time there is left.”
But Gioseffi manages to maintain hope. She points out that Franklin Delano Roosevelt was able, in only two years, to completely retool many U.S. auto factories in order to manufacture tanks, trucks, jeeps, airplanes, bombs and helmets in order to win against Nazi Germany during World War II.
“All the technology exists to save us,” Gioseffi says forcefully. “Only the political will is lacking. It can be done if there is the political will.”
Gioseffi says that many believe that politicians who deny climate change are committing a criminal act. She cites litigation against cigarette companies for denying that their products caused cancer as a possible model for tactics that could be taken against politicians who willfully obstruct legislation aimed at cleaner alternatives to fossil fuels.
“Young people are already suing their state and federal governments to move faster on energy policy,” Gioseffi says. “And they’re winning. Some justices are deciding in their favor.”
A little online research revealed that in April of this year, 21 children ages 8 to 19 filed a suit against the federal government and fossil fuel industry in Oregon with the help of the non-profit group, Our Children’s Trust. One photo online shows the young plaintiffs standing in front of a large banner that reads, “Our future is a constitutional right.”
Our Children’s Trust has filed suits in every state, alleging that the Federal Government is violating the constitutional and public trust rights of young people by promoting the use of fossil fuels. Despite motions to dismiss the case made by the federal government, Judge Thomas Coffin of the U.S. Federal District Court in Eugene, Ore., ruled that the case could move forward, creating a precedent for future cases.
As recently as May 17, four youth plaintiffs won a climate case in the Massachusetts Supreme Court, which ruled that the Massachusetts Department of Environmental Protection was not complying with its legal obligation to reduce the state’s greenhouse gas emissions.
Another development that gives Gisoseffi hope is the growth of the Break Free from Fossil Fuels movement. From May 3 to 15, the movement organized demonstrations on six continents that brought more than 30,000 people to the streets to rally for clean alternatives to fossil fuels (breakfree2016.org).
For those wishing to learn more about meaningful action they can take to help reverse climate change, Gioseffi suggests looking at “Green World Rising,” a website funded by the Leonardo DiCaprio Foundation, The Mangrove Foundation and Tree Media Foundation (greenworldrising.org).
“It’s beautiful videos produced only the way Hollywood can produce them,” Gioseffi says of the site.
Gioseffi edits a not-for-profit, online archive of environmental writing, “Eco Poetry: Climate Justice Literature and Alerts,” which you can find at: eco-poetry.org
Her poem, “One Wet Planet,” reprinted here, echoes the sentiments of much of the writing on the site, expressing the interconnectedness of humans and nature. From the specificity of the first stanza, the poem broadens into a litany that becomes almost an incantation or a prayer.
Gioseffi says that, of late, environmental activism and education — she has studied with climatologists at the American Museum of Natural History in New York — has been cutting into her writing time.
“What does my writing matter if there’s no world left?” Gisoseffi asks.
Trish Crapo is a writer and photographer who lives in Leyden. Crapo is seeking published poets and writers for her column. She’s interested in books written by Franklin County poets and writers and/or published by a Franklin County press. She can be reached at: tcrapo@me.com