We’re excited to introduce you to the always interesting and insightful Nan Seymour . We hope you’ll enjoy our conversation with Nan below.

Nan , looking forward to hearing all of your stories today. Can you open up about a risk you’ve taken – what it was like taking that risk, why you took the risk and how it turned out?

In late September of 2021, I listened to a previously broadcast program on RadioWest and heard Dr. Bonnie Baxter describe the imperiled state of Great Salt Lake. Like many listeners, I was shocked to learn that we were at the precipice of an ecological collapse. As a poet and citizen, I felt called to give the lake my full attention.

When the life of someone you love is at stake you stay with them. During both winters of 2022 and 2023, I led a day and night vigil on Antelope Island for seven weeks, parallel to the Utah State legislative sessions. I lived in a borrowed camper at site 56 on Bridger Bay. The cold was bracing, but less painful to bear than the stench of hundreds of dead birds or the view of the disappearing bay scarred by dying saline reefs. I took my solace in the many beauties of the wave-made world; bison neighbors, wild skies mirrored by the water, and meadowlarks filling the entire island with song.

During the two vigils, over one thousand people joined me on the receding shoreline to write, read poetry, sing, and walk to the water. We were anchored by explicitly stated values of reverence, repair, and reciprocity. During the second vigil, we began a daily silent meditation on behalf of the lake which is still ongoing. I am currently preparing for a third community vigil on behalf of Great Salt Lake. During the 2024 legislative session, we will keep vigil on the steps of the Utah State Capitol.

As always, we appreciate you sharing your insights and we’ve got a few more questions for you, but before we get to all of that can you take a minute to introduce yourself and give our readers some of your back background and context?

I created River Writing in order to foster voice and authentic connection. Everyone is welcome. This community-held writing practice was designed for anyone willing to pick up a pen. I often employ River Writing a method of repair for what is broken in our relationship with the natural world.

My debut poetry collection, prayers not meant for heaven, was published by Toad Hall Editions in the summer of 2021. My story lake woman leaving, a modern myth, was awarded the 2022 Alfred Lambourne Prize by Friends of Great Salt Lake. In the summer of 2023, I was chosen by Salt Lake City Mayor Erin Mendenhall for a Mayor’s Artist Award.

As the poet-in-residence on Antelope Island, I led day-and-night vigils on behalf of the imperiled Great Salt Lake throughout the 2022 and 2023 Utah State legislative sessions. During her weeks on the receding lake shore, I assembled the praise poem called Irreplaceable, a collective love letter containing over 400 individual voices from lake-facing citizens. The epic ode is a community cry for this essential ecosystem’s full restoration.

I advocate for the Rights of Nature, legally defensible personal rights for ecosystems, including Great Salt Lake. My work gives voice to their inherent right to live, flourish, and evolve in a natural way. My words emerge from my devotion to repairing the breach between humans and the rest of the sentient, singing earth.

How can we best help foster a strong, supportive environment for artists and creatives?

Art needs to be celebrated for art’s sake. We need to resist the capitalist impulse to monetize every creative act. Correspondingly there should be more fiscal and societal support for artists overall.

Is there a particular goal or mission driving your creative journey?

I am devoted to the life of our only home, this irreplaceable planet. I long to turn heads and hearts toward the beauty of the earth, to inspire people to fall irrevocably in love with water bodies, landscapes, birds, and all other beyond human life forms. I hope that our love will motivate a great turn toward this sentient and singing world before it is too late.

Contact Info:

• Website: [email protected]
• Instagram: @nan_seymour

Image Credits
Alex Adams