Hot Poets 79 subscribers 112 views Feb 8, 2024 10 new poems of hope, nature and community for We Feed the UK, from the UK farmers changing nature, food and life for the better. Poem: ‘The Opposite of Apocalypse’ Inspired by: Mallon Farm Written and Performed by: Hot Poet, Abby Oliveira Location: Northern Ireland Edited by Hot Poets and Counterstate Films Videographers – Séan Coyle & Chris McAlinden We Feed The UK (seeded by The Gaia Foundation) is a major arts project pairing award-winning poets and photographers with the UK’s most inspiring regenerative farmers and food producers. These groundbreaking collaborations will celebrate Britain’s custodians of soil, sea and seed, showcasing their positive solutions to climate change, the biodiversity crisis and social justice. About the Farmers Irish flax has been turned into linen for two thousand years, or so the peat bogs tell us. Brehon (early Irish) law even obliged farmers to learn its cultivation, such was the importance of the trade that earned Belfast its nickname, Linenopolis. After 50 years, Helen Keys and Charlie Mallon are reviving the tradition of growing flax for fibre. Their ‘wee bue blossom’ is chemical free, harvested by hand, retted in rainwater, scutched on a restored turbine, and threaded into local supply chains. About the Poet Abby Oliveira is a writer, performer, lyricist, and theatre maker based in Derry in the North or Ireland. She has had work commissioned by BBC Radio 4 and Foyle, RTE radio, and more. Hot Poets is an award-winning Arts organisation, working in the highest levels and deepest roots of the climate space to powerfully communicate climate change science and action through spoken word poetry . Integral to our partnership with We Feed the UK, is the commissioning of world class regional poets, reflecting the broad diversity of voices and communities. Watch all the poems and find out more at: wefeedtheuk.org hotpoets.org

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