April is National Poetry Month. To celebrate, the Monadnock Conservancy, a land trust for southwestern New Hampshire, is offering for sale an anthology of poems called “Writing the Land: Northeast.”
The book features poets Ann Day of Peterborough, Swift Corwin of Peterborough, Rodger Martin of Harrisville and former state poet laureate Alice Fogel of Walpole. Each poet selected a property owned by the Conservancy, took the time to get to know each place and then wrote several poems inspired by these protected lands. The places are Cunningham Pond Conservation Area in Peterborough, Chamberlain Conservation Area in Fitzwilliam, Calhoun Family Forest in Gilsum and Whittemore Island on Thorndike Pond in Jaffrey.
In this anthology – a project of NatureCulture and published by Human Error Publishing in November 2021 –40 poets offer poems inspired by protected lands in New England, and 11 land trusts tell the stories of how and why they do this work. From farmland trusts to wilderness preserves, from community land trusts to those protecting environmental systems, each organization offers a piece of the puzzle of how humans can live in balance with the rest of nature.
To order a copy for $25, including shipping, contact Kate Sullivan at kate@monadnockconservancy.org or 603-357-0600, Ext. 101.
The Monadnock Conservancy, founded in 1989, is a land trust dedicated exclusively to 39 towns in the Monadnock region of southwestern New Hampshire. Its mission is to work with communities and landowners to conserve the natural resources, wild and working lands, rural character and scenic beauty of the region. Based in Keene, the conservancy is an accredited organization that has protected nearly 22,000 acres of forest, farmland, shoreline, wetlands, wildlife habitat and recreation trails in the region. For information or to sign up for the monthly e-newsletter, visit monadnockconservancy.org or call 603-357-0600.
For information about NatureCulture and the ongoing work of connecting poets with protected lands, visit writingtheland.org.