Vanishing Glaciers – The Poems of Kári Tulinius

Application summary

Climate change is a global phenomenon, but one part of the world where it has been especially visible is the subarctic. The arctic and subarctic regions of the planet have been warming at a quicker pace than those closer to the equator. That has led to rapid changes in the flora and fauna of land and sea, which has happened quickly enough to be noticeable. In the long history of nature poetry, one theme has recurred over and over again, the regularity of the seasons, and how the rhythms of nature are unchanging. In his poetry, Kári Tulinius pays very close attention to his environment, whether it's natural, built or societal. He picks up small details which he places within bigger systems, whether it is humanity's evolutionary heritage, animals in the natural world, or the place of individuals in the vastness of the universe. One theme that repeatedly surfaces in his work is the experience of living in Iceland during climate change, which make his poems especially pertinent now, as the island's ecosystem is conspicuously transforming. He is trying to answer the question what it means to be a nature poet when nature itself has been put out of balance by humanity, when landscape features as enormous as glaciers are melting away.