CLIMATE POETRY: Matt Howard and Dr Katie Wright, ‘Experiments and Observations on Different Kinds of Air, 1775’

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.

Matt Howard is manager of the University of Leeds Poetry Centre and is a poet and environmentalist who worked in various roles for the RSPB for more than a decade.

Dr Katie Wright works in the School of Sociology & Social Policy and her expertise is in the role of the public and communities in policy agendas, in particular urban planning, climate adaptation, societal transformations and emergency planning and response.

Following their conversation, Matt wrote the poem Experiments and Observations on Different Kinds of Air, 1775: