Poetry and the Ocean

Stepfan Helmreich and Robert Pinksy

Thursday, June 1, 2017, 7-8pm

List Visual Arts Center, Bartos Theatre
20 Ames St, Cambridge

As sea levels are rising, we are in a moment of global change and climate crisis. Our relationship to the ocean has been altered dramatically and continues to do so. Renowned poet Robert Pinsky and MIT anthropologist Stefan Helmreich discussed, imagined and invoked the ocean; Pinsky acted as the poetic voice through his choice of poems, and was the “hub” of the conversation and Helmreich’s comments and responses were the “spokes”. In this way they summoned the rich history of our relationship to the sea, both benign and dangerous. The voice of the poems iterated the sounds of the water.