CLIMATE POETRY: John Whale and Lone Sorenson, ‘Jizz’

Poets have long used their craft to reframe issues, convey emotion and share ideas, and climate change is an increasing feature of poetry shared across the world. To mark the launch of the Priestley Centre for Climate Futures last year, our partners, the University of Leeds Poetry Centre, paired University of Leeds poets with Priestley Centre climate researchers to have a conversation that inspires a new poem.

Professor John Whale is Director of the University of Leeds Poetry Centre and Professor of Romantic Literature.

Dr Lone Sorensen is Associate Professor of Political Communication and her research focuses on the relationship between citizens and public representatives as it pertains to questions of knowledge and truth and especially as it is enacted on digital platforms. She also explores polarisation and populism, and is increasingly focusing on climate politics.

Following their conversation, John wrote the poem Jizz: