Poetry has always been bound to moments of crisis, bearing witness to histories of loss, war, and cruelty. Living in a time with no shortage of atrocities, we are confronted with a question: How is poetry actually able to survive, let alone thrive, in such conditions?
Powerful global superpowers continue to shape the conditions in which current conflicts unfold, and in which they are being narrated. At the same time, artists, activists, and communities face increasing pressure through surveillance, censorship, and repression.
The terrain is fraught and uncertain for anyone working in the literary field today. Can poetry still intervene meaningfully in the present? What space remains for dissent, for ambiguity, for care? The discussion will reflect on the possibilities and limits of poetry in a time of crisis: what it means to write, and read, under the pressures of today.
This discussion brings together three writers working across different geographies and practices: Molly Ripatti, writer and coordinator currently studying at Trinity College Dublin; DC Restaino, a London-based writer originally from Texas; and A.V. Marraccini, a New York–based critic, writer, and historian of art. The conversation will be moderated by Kimmo Kallio. Readings by Ripatti and Restaino will also take place later that evening as part of Caisa Poetry Night.
The language of the discussion is English.
In Collaboration with: Caisa
