Pens of the Earth Book

Aim

To publish a book of our environmental stories, poetry & articles, with proceeds going to the Solent Seagrass Restoration Project.

Pens of the Earth is about celebrating the small differences that can be achieved; how we can make our environment better for ourselves and nature, and how together we can fight climate change, through our words and our actions.

Pens of the Earth celebrates environmental action at a grass roots level, bringing news of initiatives which seek to:

• Create wildlife corridors in cities 
• Create streets designed for people and children to live life to the full: to play, walk, run, cycle, relax with neighbours and breathe healthy air. 
• Protect and restore our seas 
• Protect wildlife and marine life from plastic
• Plant trees and orchards, pocket parks and community gardens 
• Repair and restore 
• Work towards a better future

Since our launch in July 2019, we have collaborated with local and national           environmentalists to find out what they are doing and to share this with our writers. We challenge our writers to learn about what’s happening and to imagine what could happen. We provide inspirational articles, images and film clips on our website, run workshops, write articles and give talks. We then invite authors to submit their stories, memoir pieces and poetry to us, offering the chance to work with experienced editors. We provide guidance and encouragement for first time writers. We want people’s ideas, and if a story or poem shows promise, we are only too happy to help shape and hone it. 

We’re a community of volunteers, who have given our time to inspire, select, edit, publish, promote and perform this work, because we believe that what we’re doing can make a difference. This is why we want to publish a book of our stories, poems and environmental articles. The book will contain work from all our themes, as well as new work on the theme of ‘Community’.

Our writers have agreed to donate their work, which means that all profits from the sales of this book will go to the inspirational and essential Solent Seagrass Restoration Project.

‘Hampshire & Isle of Wight Wildlife Trust has joined forces with Boskalis Westminister and The University of Portsmouth to undertake a seagrass restoration project within the Solent. We want to see seagrass habitats in the Solent restored towards their historical levels and for seagrass to be present in all locations that could support it. By restoring seagrass habitats we will create a wilder Solent, supporting increased biodiversity and sustainable fisheries, promoting greater ecosystem services, cleaner water and creating a natural carbon solution to mitigate the effects of climate change.’ Hampshire and Isle of Wight Wildlife Trust

Read more about the Solent Seagrass Restoration Project. 

Watch the Solent Seagrass Restoration Project video.

We want to plant the seeds of change. Please help us!

With your help we can publish and promote this book both as a printed book and as an e-book. We can place it in libraries, bookshops, local community venues and places where families, communities, students and tourists hang out. We can inspire people to take action and we can raise a substantial amount of money for the vital work of seagrass restoration.

Please consider making a donation or a pre-order, to help us plant these seeds.

Notes:

• All Crowdfunder contributors will be listed on our website in a thanks to our anthology sponsors (unless you choose to remain anonymous).
• We aim to be as environmental as possible while producing our book. Please read the Sustainability Statement on our website for more detail.

This project successfully funded on 4th December 2023