By Evelyn Lucado
Elm Staff Writer
As the Living Writers Poetry Series comes to an end, the Washington College and Chestertown communities welcomed award-winning poet Dr. Rajiv Mohabir to the Rose O’Neill Literary House and the Lawrence Wetlands Preserve.
Dr. Mohabir led two events: a poetry reading on the Literary House porch on Nov. 13 and a “writing in nature” workshop at the Lawrence Wetlands Preserve on Nov. 14.
According to Dr. Mohabir’s website, he is the author of four poetry collections, including his most recent, “Whale Aria,” and his hybrid memoir, “Antiman.” He is also an assistant professor of poetry at the University of Colorado Boulder.
At the Nov. 13 reading, Director of the Literary House Dr. James Allen Hall introduced Dr. Mohabir, commenting on the unique voice of “Whale Aria.”
“‘Whale Aria’ weaves a story that contains anger at ecological and human violences but also contains optimism that we can, through art and intellectual inquiry, transform each other and expand our empathies,” Dr. Hall said.
The majority of Dr. Mohabir’s 12 poems are from his collection “Whale Aria,” in which he relates the elusive songs of whales to the speaker’s experience navigating diaspora and queerness in a postcolonial society.
“We’re living through some dark times,” Dr. Mohabir said. “This is my candle that I’m lighting in front of you all.”
Junior Charlotte Becker said she was drawn to the event after reading “Whale Aria” for the corresponding Living Writers Poetry course.
“You can do anything in poetry. You can do anything you want to,” Becker said. “The topic, as obvious [as] it might be, there’s always something deep inside.”
The Thursday following his [HF1] reading, Dr. Mohabir led a supplementary workshop on nature writing in which he shared several examples of eco-poetry. Then, he guided the attendees through a writing exercise in which they spent time exploring the Wetlands Preserve before turning their observations into poems.
In his lesson, Dr. Mohabir reminded attendees that, with the potential of an ever-uncertain future, the ecological system is deeply tied to humanity.
“Ecocritical concerns are tied to the other oppressions that intersect our different [positions] as we live in the United States,” Dr. Mohabir said. “It’s related to colonialism, neocolonialism. It’s related to homophobia and transphobia. It’s related to misogyny and patriarchal valuing of the things that are capitalist in nature.”
Attendees of the workshop had the opportunity to share their poems and how they paired introspection with the natural world.
“My hope is that people carry some kind of awareness of the world around them into their everyday lives,” Dr. Mohabir said. “The idea that we are living on this planet so close to ecological collapse is something that we cannot look away from.”
As the Living Writers series comes to its conclusion for the fall 2024 semester, the Literary House will host its next event, a virtual workshop and reading led by author Dianne Seuss, on Nov. 18.
Photo by Ella Humphreys.
Photo Caption: Dr. Mohabir was also a 2022 fellowship awardee from the Massachusetts Cultural Council.