Elizabeth Glenn-Copeland

Featured Artist, September 13-26, 2021

 

Elizabeth Glenn-Copeland

Elizabeth Glenn-Copeland is an author, theatre artist and arts educator whose work over the past 4 decades has evolved at the intersection of arts and activism. Her essays, poems and short stories have been published in 'Deep Times Journal', 'Resilience Magazine' and 'Circa-A Journal of Historical Fiction', to name a few.

Her YA novel, 'Traeh Gnul: Miranda's Journey from the Great Forest' won the WFNB 2014 YA Fiction Prize. Her novella, 'Jazz: Nature's Improvisation' won the 2014 Ken Klonsky Novella Prize, and was later shortlisted for the 2015 ReLit Award.

During her 2018 tenure as Writer-in-Residence at the Joggins Fossil Institute, she researched and wrote the narrative eco-poem, "Daring to Hope at the Cliff's Edge: Pangea's Dream Remembered". Elizabeth lives on the Parrsboro shore with her musician husband, Beverly Glenn-Copeland.

 
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“Daring to Hope at the Cliff’s Edge: Pangea’s Dream Remembered” is a timely, multifaceted narrative poem that explores the morality of climate change action, one’s connection to land and the importance of centering Indigenous ways of knowing.

How can a faithful narration of the past influence the future? Why is understanding earth-based teachings so essential to our future? And how can humility in the face of mishap lead to powerful change?

The setting is the magnificent Joggins Fossil Cliffs, a UNESCO World Heritage Site on the Bay of Fundy in Atlantic Canada. Here, Glenn-Copeland deftly weaves myriad themes into luscious and even humorous verse. “Daring to Hope at the Cliff’s Edge” brings readers through the poet’s year-long odyssey from eco-despair to an exploration of Earth’s history and, finally, what it really means to practice what Buddhist eco-philosopher Joanna Macy refers to as “active hope”. Deft and remarkable, “Daring to Hope at the Cliff’s Edge” encourages us to experience deep grief for the climate crisis and our species and—in doing so—boldly consider what part we can play individually and collectively as we stand at this critical juncture in our evolution.

Praise for “Daring to Hope at the Cliff’s Edge”

Elizabeth Glenn-Copeland is one of our wise women. She is a career artist committed to community-level change who has given her life to developing and generously sharing her creative gifts despite living in a culture that often devalues artists who do not follow the mainstream.
— Dr. Robert Lapp, Professor of English at Mount Allison University
In hearing Elizabeth share an excerpt from her upcoming book, Daring To Hope at The Cliff’s Edge, I felt myself experience a brief but ever so sweet respite from the hopelessness that has weighed on my heart and the hearts of so many of us. Elizabeth’s work shows us that the ultimate tool we possess is our ability to quiet down and listen to what our Eternal Mother is trying to tell us.
— Sophia Katz, Musician, author and media artist
Indigenous stories have carried memories across thousands of years, telling of people, places, and events through intricate woven words and spirits. Today, many scholars and communities work to decolonize hearts and minds through stories woven through Indigenous and settler voices, the practice of what a Mi’kmaq Elder calls Two Eyed Seeing. This engaging narrative is a welcome addition to emerging works acknowledging a need for understanding and healing in a colonized world. This poetic story is a must-read for anyone who struggles to activate hope for the future.
— Dr. Paulette Steeves, Associate Professor of History Algoma University
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“Lyrical, bewildering, heartening, and unsettling,

this work sees an

individual voice reckoning with the overwhelming complexity of our

present moment and that which led us here.”

– Nick Storring, Composer, musician and music journalist

“Daring to Hope at the Cliff’s Edge: Pangea’s Dream Remembered” / Chapel Street Editions

http://www.chapelstreeteditions.com/daring-to-hope-at-the-cliff-s-edge.html

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Elizabeth Glenn-Copeland

Featured Artist, September 13-26, 2021

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