A Scottish Ecopoetics: Feminism and Environmentalism in the Works of Kathleen Jamie and Valerie Gillies

The article examines the ongoing attempts of contemporary Scottish poets Kathleen Jamie (1962-) and Valerie Gillies (1948-) to develop a feminist and environmentalist nature poetry that re-envisions the connection between nature and humanity. These poets' artistic journeys have led them from traditional print-page poetry to challenging multimedia art forms that combine the visual and the written word, as in Jamie's combination of photography and the lyrical essay in Findings (2005) and Gillies's poetic collaborations with sculptors along the Tweed River (1998-2001). In the process, they have created a place-sensitive art that embodies a dialogical interaction with nature, reflective of an understanding of humanity's simultaneous separation from and continuity with nature. Their work suggests that a feminist environmental art requires an equally feminist aesthetics, one that breaks down boundaries—between various art forms, between art and nature, and art and society—in order to change perception and envision alternative ways of living.