🎧 Healing the Earth Through Stories and Poetry: Francisca Okwulehie & Marie Josette in Conversation

 

We often talk about environmental healing in terms of policies, technology and conservation. But what about imagination? What happens when we use stories and poetry to help people see the Earth differently? Can a poem make us care about a river? Can a story preserve environmental knowledge? And can literature help us imagine a different relationship with nature?

In this Nature Poetry Meeting, Francisca Okwulehie and Marie Josette share in a conversation on literature, environmental memory, womanhood and our relationship with nature.

Francisca Okwulehie is a Nigerian author, philosopher, and founder of the Ecofem Tales Environmental Foundation. Through her work, she explores African women's environmental stories and the role of storytelling in ecological restoration, environmental awareness, and collective action.

Marie Josette also known as Leinyuy The Poet is a Cameroonian spoken word artist and poet who uses words to explore women's rights, children's wellbeing, peace, and the realities that often go unheard. Her work has earned recognition in poetry and public-speaking competitions.

They discuss the power of poetry to influence people to take environmental action, discussing the importance of ecological witnessing in order to effectively engage in environmental advocacy. They point out how inherited stories have challenged our ability to imagine a mutual respectful relationship with nature.

They also discuss the importance of storytelling in preserving environmental memory, the place of documenting African environmental stories and the need to give environmental problems and ecofeminist challenges a face for recognition and understanding how to solve them.

 Click HERE to listen to this conversation on Spotify.