Fall 2024 Sustainability Fellow Chris Watkins Runs Environmental Writing Workshop Series

Hi all! Chris Watkins here, one of the Fall 2024 Sustainability Fellows. For the past five years I have been working toward my PhD in Poetry with a focus in Ecopoetics, Ecocriticism, and Gender Studies while working on my poetry collection The Drag Gospel of Queer Jesus, forthcoming with Saturnalia Books. Last fall, I had the pleasure of working with FSU Sustainable Campus facilitating a series of environmental writing workshops each of which focused on a different genre of environmental writing (nonfiction, fiction, and poetry). Participants in these workshops were first given an overview of the history of that genre and its relationship to environmental/nature writing. Then, we looked at a series of modes/models, writing strategies, themes, and forms that are common for environmental writing in that genre; for example, the haibun and haiku tradition in ecopoetry, the braided and the place-based narrative in environmental nonfiction, etc. Each form had examples such as Craig Santos Perez’s “Silent Spring Haiku,” and students used these examples and the strategies/forms during several guided writing prompts, so that by the end of the workshop, they would have the beginnings of several different environmental writing pieces that they could continue to explore.

Environmental writing, and environmental art more broadly, is important because while data and scientific studies give us a foundational understanding of the workings and the problems of the environment, art more easily moves people; environmental art attempts to reflect the beauty of the more-than-human world. And writing—thoughtful, articulate writing—is an important skill set for any scientist, activist, or social worker/politician wanting to make positive change toward a more sustainable future. One need look no further than Rachel Carson or Florida’s own Marjory Stoneman Douglas to see how writing can shape—manifestly—the physical world. Without these two women, we would still be spraying DDT like wildfire over our fruits and vegetables, killing and/or mutilating millions of more-than-human creatures, and the Florida Everglades would be little more than a series of dikes, dams, and sugar plantations instead of the thriving National Park it is today. Environmental writing, at its best, comes close to expressing the need we have for the more-than-human world, comes close to expressing the rightness and contentment we feel in natural places. FSU is situated in one of the most biologically diverse areas in the world, and our students have so many brilliant ideas to express about their—our—relationship to that world. It was a privilege to help them in this endeavor.

And it was a privilege to work with Sustainable Campus as my community partner for the duration of the fellowship! Sustainable Campus is such a necessary and vital organization in the FSU community, and in fact, I enjoyed my time working with them so much that, after graduating, I applied for and was hired as the Sustainable Campus Academics & Partnerships Coordinator. I look forward to continuing my work here at Sustainable Campus with FSU students, faculty, and throughout the university, as well as with our community partners. I hope to bridge more gaps between the arts and the sciences and to continue working with the written word to make the human and the more-than-human world a more sustainable place.