In his second poetry collection Solastalgia, Irish poet Ciaran Hodgers explores the intersection of environment and mental health. Considering the effects of climate change on the wellbeing of our world and ourselves, this exploration of ecopsychology asks what it means, how it feels and how to be in relation to the more-than-human world. Punctuated throughout by counselling 'sessions', this book holds up to the light a processes of healing, both ourselves and the planet, through exercises in reciprocity. It asks what a tree can teach us about grief; how evolutionary biology might support the counselling process; what the water cycle can teach us about time; how autumn can make us reconsider lost friendship and how a mountain might help us overcome trauma. Moving out from the individual, it considers geopolitical history and cultural perspectives on climate change, and seeks to move beyond present restrictions and creatively engage in the notion of the symbiocene. Celebrating the resilience, tenderness and connection between the human and more-than-human worlds, this collection holds space for the deep emotional response to the climate crisis, helps us find more commonality with the world, challenges us to think of a way through the immediate and galvanises us toward action against the most pressing issue that has ever faced the planet.

In his second poetry collection Solastalgia, Irish poet Ciaran Hodgers explores the intersection of environment and mental health.

About the Author
Ciaran Hodgers (he/him/his) is an Irish spoken word poet based in the UK. His debut poetry collection Cosmocartography was published by Burning Eye Books in 2018, and went on to tour the UK & Ireland for 30 dates. It featured on national radio media on both sides of the pond and was shortlisted for the prestigious Rubery Book Award. Winner of the Sean Dunne National Young Writer Award in 2010, an International Pangaea Poetry Slam Champion 2015 and the Word War 3 Slam Champion, he has been shortlisted for the Pushcart Prize, OutSpoken Prize for Poetry and longlisted for the Not The Foreword and Gingko Eco-poetry competition. As well as a writer and performer, he is an experienced workshop leader and creative mentor, supporting many poets towards their first publication or collection. Published internationally in journals, anthologies, festivals, exhibitions, curriculum texts and he has also featured on mainstream media in the UK and Ireland.

Reviews
One of the region's most exciting spoken word performers - The Independent



Book Information
ISBN 9781913958435
Author Ciaran Hodgers
Format Paperback
Page Count 100
Imprint Burning Eye Books
Publisher Burning Eye Books