William Wordsworth knew a thing or two about the value of ancient trees. His poem 'Yew-Trees' famously venerates the Lorton and Borrowdale Yews, their preternatural existence in the landscape, and significant place in national and Lakeland history. These specimens live on in situ, as the poet himself envisioned they would; much more than this, the Wordsworthian sentiments expressed in this poem encapsulate our continued and human reverence for such elder trees. Most recently, this respect for our arboreal heritage was both displayed and challenged, when the Sycamore Gap tree was felled in 2023, and when this egregious act resulted in a Northumbrian, national, and global outcry. The tree was mourned and commemorated across the media, in public discourse, and in a variety of think pieces published in its name. This Tree Talk will address the significance of 'landmark' and ancient trees in the cultural imagination and literary representation, and will consider how far this living heritage is of botanical and environmental significance to our past, present, and future.
Speakers
Professor Helen Parish (Worcester College, University of Oxford, UK)
Professor Paul Westover (Brigham Young University, USA)
Tony Kirkham (Retired Head of Arboretum, Gardens & Horticultural Services at the Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew)
What are 'Tree Talks'?
Tree Talks is a series of online discussions about tree-oriented research, interests, and activism in the environmental humanities and beyond. It aims to bring together experts from different research disciplines and to create a space to disseminate, explore, and forge links between a diverse range of tree topics that are relevant to our past, present, and future environments.
This series of three Tree Talks will be held in collaboration with the Wordsworth Trust. Each of the sessions will feature short talks on a tree-related topic, an introduction to a related object in the Wordsworth Trust's collections, and will be followed with an open Q&A discussion.
Sessions are free to attend, but booking is required.
Organisers
Tree Talks is co-organised by Dr Amanda Blake Davis and Dr Anna Burton, Lecturers in English Literature at the University of Derby. Their new and collaborative project, 'Romantic Trees: The Literary Arboretum, 1740-1840', explores Romantic responses to a range of individual trees and tree species and pays particular attention to shedding light on the network of international and environmental contexts within which they were viewed, culminating in the opening of the first modern arboretum, Derby Arboretum, in 1840.
How to book and attend
Attendees will receive a webinar registration link shortly after booking a free ticket. This event takes place on Zoom, and automatic live captions will be provided by Otter.ai
Season (11 July 2024) | ||
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Day | Times | |
Thursday | 20:00 | - 21:30 |
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