DIRT
DIRT, our new carbon neutral ecopoetry publishing imprint is launching this December – in true pamphleteering style, our aim is to bring together pairs of poets to collaborate and produce poems printed on plantable broadsheets to persuade, beguile and enchant. Alice Willitts writes about her collaboration with JLM Morton for this first, prototype edition…
What’s that sprouting from the DIRT?
“Why are you calling it ‘dirt’ Alice? Dirt is so negative, it’s dirty - no-one wants that!” she says, curling her lip. And how right she is, no-one wants dirt! And that’s precisely why we chose that name. Poetic DIRT is about staying with trouble we’ve made for our planet. This DIRT is home to a regenerative, restorative and radically hopeful form of writing.
Real dirt is the barren dust left when soil has died. We don’t want to look at the skeleton of fertile soil. I sympathise with my friend’s revulsion but I know she’s a person who habitually looks away from what’s unpleasant. To be reminded of what upsets her, upsets her, so she turns away. She’s by no means alone. Why dwell on difficulties if you don’t have to right? I don’t know why I’m wired to go towards what’s hard and find a way to engage, I just am. For me, the contradiction (and humour) of calling something that is precious ‘dirt’ is all about facing the hard stuff and looking for hope there. To some this will never make sense. Perhaps they cannot, or will not, hold the horror of what is happening in the same hand as the seeds of renewal. Poets though, we’re good at that shit.
And while I’m talking shit, there’s the compostable nature of DIRT and the care we’ve taken over the making of these printed objects. We’re printing with vegetable inks on compostable, plantable paper accompanied by a packet of poppy seeds from my garden. The idea is that you, dear reader, will enjoy the poem then find somewhere that needs a bit of renewal and dig a hole, bury the poem and scatter seeds over the disturbed ground. From there, the paper will feed the seedlings which in turn will flower and produce more seed. Word seeds. Hope seeds. Call them what you like but DIRT publications ask you to act — by giving up something valuable that you would rather keep. Send back to the earth the energy and effort used to make the poems where they will become green and joyful.
Cover, Chapel
The journey from initial idea to this point has been delightful and challenging. Our dream was to print on paper impregnated with poppy seeds that would grow and multiply from each planted poem. When we had paper made with the seeds and trialled planting, the seeds didn’t germinate which rather defeats the aim of the project. Greenwashing is not my wheelbarrow, so we changed tack and looked for the least toxic and most compostable, low-mileage paper instead. The result was a beautiful, soil-coloured paper that has such fertile credentials I reckon you could even eat it and feel nourished! Surprising and utterly right, it changes what we think a ‘book’ should look and feel like.
Juliette and I developed all this with the financial support of amazing people through crowdfunding, people who believed in our ideas to pay poets and produce publications that not only don’t harm the planet but contribute directly to improving soil and air quality. Full-circle writing that cares for creators too. We set out to pay poets to write together. Is it possible? Yes! We wanted to achieve carbon positive publications. We’re doing it! And we wanted to grow a community of thinkers in discussion about all the complexities and nuances of being ecopoets in a publishing industry that does not address the digital and physical costs to the planet of the writing we value so dearly. We’re starting a Substack if you’re interested in being part of this conversation - follow us here.
You can buy, or gift someone, a copy and let a DIRT poem hover in your lives briefly before you take action and plant the words. Proceeds from the sale of this prototype will go to funding the poets and production for the first series. We’re still working out how to do this well but what we know after this beautifully supported R&D phase is that paying what it costs us and the planet matters. You can buy ‘Chapel’ here.
Thank you to our fabulous supporters: Alun Hughes, Amy Arthur, Angus Carlyle, Anne Berkeley, Anne Willitts, Biagio Arancio, Bryony Randall, Caleb Parkin, Caroline Sanderson, Carrie Etter, Cheryl Moskowitz, Claire Collison, Clare Whistler, Craig Barker, Deborah Gray, Di Slaney, Diana Humphrey, Elizabeth Lewis WIlliams, Elvire Roberts, Fiona Benson, Frances Sword, Frank Bonner, Gaynor Clements, Hannah Copley, Harry Man, Heidi Williamson, Ilse Pedler, Jacqui Stearn, Jan Heritage, Jane Monson, Jane Whittaker, Jason Scott-Warren, Jean Cooper Moran, Joanna Nissel, Joff Elphick, Jonathan Kay, Jonathan Totman, Josephine Hall, Jude Allen, Julia Lockwood, Julian Bishop, Kate Fife, Kath Broomfield, Kay Syrad, Lily Greenwood, Lily Tomson, Lisa Kelly, Liz Bell, Louise Brice, Lucy Heminsley, Lucy Sheerman, Marcelle Newbold, Martin Figura, Mary Omnes, Michèle Knight, Mina Gorji, Nicola Ramsay, Naush Sabah, Oliver Comins, Patsy Ward, Pey Oh, Philip Rush, Pippa Marland, Polly Waterfield, Rachel Goodman, Rowena Whitehead, Sarah Westcott, Seth Bockley, Sophie Herxheimer, Steven J. Fowler, Suna Afshan, Vasiliki Albedo, Veronica Dewan.
Alice Willitts is a poet from the Fens. Website: Alice Willitts poet
Follow the DIRT Substack here.
Buy ‘Chapel,’ our prototype collaboration here.
