Edited by Eveline Kolijin, foreword by Chris Turner
DURVILE & UPROUTE BOOKS
2023/$32.50/272 pp.
Fire was once our primary driver. It permitted us to survive harsh weather, broaden our diet and preserve our food. Indigenous cultures around the world worked with fire to renew land through regenerative burning practices—and continue to do so. Fire was heat, heart, hearth: a communal space to gather around and share our stories. Over time, our sources of fire transformed in a variety of ways: we derived the energy of fire from coal, oil and natural gas; in its latest iterations it comes from nuclear, solar, geothermal and wind power. This, however, is the point at which our collective narratives of the transformation lapse. As Chris Turner notes in his foreword to Reimagining Fire, “The energy transition now underway needs more stories. We need narratives of escape, survival, salvage, even (maybe especially) triumph.”
Reimagining Fire is a gathering together of voices around that central fire. It brings together people from scientific exploration and industry; from artistic and literary practices; from diverse identities, cultures and communities. Editor Eveline Kolijn recognizes that while the concept and practice of energy transition has no easy answers, at its foundation, it must be representative of a way of life that links people more profoundly to one another and to the earth in order to succeed in the long term. To transition from an extractive colonial mindset requires responding to nuanced questions beyond just research and development, questions that attend to concerns about intention, community repercussions and long-term impact. As author Monica Kidd notes, “[A]bundance carries moral complexity,” and that “[a]s we collectively feel our way through the energy transition, we will need to reconcile what kinds of abundance we can keep and which we will need to move past.”
The multiple voices in dialogue here—in poetry, essays and artworks—recognize that scaling back is a complex issue depending on where one lives in the world, one’s economic standing and one’s beliefs in relation to the earth. The book is engaging precisely because it does not advocate for a one-size-fits-all mentality to the energy transition; rather, it recognizes that though these discussions of scale will be complicated, they are crucial in order to acknowledge the differences of privilege and of diverse cultural relationships to the earth. Designer, writer and activist Nadia Perna advises, “Energy transition will only matter if intersectionality is at its forefront, and a just future is created for all.”
One might claim that a book on energy arranged around a multiplicity of voices, perspectives and areas of expertise presents more problems than it solves. I’d argue that the opposite is true: that in sharing our stories and bringing together our diverse selves around a common cause as vital as this one, we begin the essential work of coming to common ground. These conversations are the foundation on which that future is built, every bit as much as the technologies we’ll choose to implement and the timescale on which we’ll decide to make the change. Like the technological shifts themselves, these conversations will take time to unfold, and dialogues such as the ones taking place in Reimagining Fire open the way for the long work that will follow after. Poet Richard Harrison notes that the construction of the great cathedrals of the world often outlasts the lives of their architects and builders, but that this massive scope makes the work itself no less vital:
They all began with those who knew
they would never see the work complete in their lifetime—
and this was all the more reason to begin—
and having begun, continue.
Jenna Butler is a teacher and regenerative farmer based in Barrhead and the author of six books about the land.
______________________________________
