Planet

Planet is the first of a 5-volume curated collection of essays and poems about kinship released by the Centre for Humans and Nature. As with many collections, it features a variety of writing, some strong and some not. The first volume is on "planet" and combines thoughts on this pale blue dot from thinkers, writers, artists, poets and philosophers.

Overall, the writing is of a very high standard and the collection is well presented. Standout essays include Andrew S. Yang's Kinshape, which is a conversetion with stardust as kin, via his mother. Co-editor Robin Wall Kimmerer's part-speculative fiction about humans being invited back into the family by other creatures that share this space is thoughtful and wonderful. Ceridwen Dovey's essay on giving rights to the moon raises fascinating questions and is written with a beautiful sense of care. However some of the essays fail to land, particularly the "celebrity" contribution of David Abram, which seems completely out of place and is very clumsy in its use of language. The poetry is also a mixed bag, with a few great pieces (Brenda Cardénas' piece on perspectives of life is tefrific).

There is a slant toward US-based voices in this first volume, which is a pity because it misses an opportunity to broaden the discourse. Despite these issues, the book is a great collection. And the design of the volumes is also worth noting as they are all beautiful objects, well designed and nicely packaged.