Welcome to the Anthropocene

Alice Major, Edmonton’s first poet laureate, has published 11 books of poetry and essays, many of which explore her long-standing interest in the sciences. She is the recipient of the Lieutenant Governor of Alberta 2017 Distinguished Artist Award. Her most recent publications with UAP are Standard candles and Intersecting Sets: A Poet Looks at Science. You can find her online at www.alicemajor.com

• Prologue-In medias resWelcome to the Anthropocene-Welcome to the Anthropocene-The local globe-Windfall advisory-There goes the neighbourhood-Guardians of Eden-Privacy acts-Bird singularities-Dust to dust-Annual grains-Demeter waits at the arrivals gate-Red sky at …-Climate change debate-Badger-Mouse dreams-Ratatoskr-Waltz, waspA working world-Office hours-I heard the bells …-Staff Christmas lunch-Free time-Receptionist-Bell curve-The Gambler’s Fallacy-After a morning spent in a visioning session with a well-paid consultant-Among the MagiLong division-Catena-Zero divided by zero-Complex number plane-Discounted annuals-Draft of a poem on ‘inclusion’Discounted annuals-The hat-The realms of asphodel-Kind to a cat-Child care-Old Anna-The things we drag behind usLaundry hearts-This afternoon before the clocks turn back-In memoriam-Battle River country-Season of metal-Laundry hearts-Within, without-In every tongue-Threshold-Sun thread-Foil-Circadian ArcadiasThe poet’s handbook of cognitive illusions-Hallucinating the muse-Pronominal-Pathetic fallacy-Pareidolia-The Texas sharpshooter fallacy-Necker cube illusion-Confabulation-The League of Poets Burial SocietyEpilogue-CledonismNotesAcknowledgements

"Because the universe is big and all but incomprehensible, the average Jills and Joes don’t dare ask too many existential questions. It is left to poets to face the truth in those places the rest of us fear to tread. The author of eleven books of poetry and essays, Edmonton’s first poet laureate, and a woman comfortable in the realms of math, science, and cosmology, Alice Major is uniquely qualified to guide humanity through perilous ecological times. Thank you, Alice." Foreword Magazine, January 1, 2018