In this presentation on the poetics of waste, maintenance, and sustainability in contemporary poetry, Orchid Tierney, Assistant Professor of English, will illuminate the meaning of waste aesthetics in the collages of Gund collection artist, Romare Bearden.

Professor Tierney focuses her creative writing and scholarly publications on waste and waste management, atmospheric aesthetics, and pollution in contemporary Anglophone ecopoetry. Tierney’s research and teaching interests also include Pacific Island literature, climate change and poetics.

Serving on The Gund faculty and staff advisory committee, Professor Tierney is one of our most inspired, energetic, and steadfast collaborators. Her courses regularly engage with Gund exhibitions and collections, and she is currently collaborating with our Deputy Director of Curatorial Affairs and Education, Dr. Jodi Kovach, to develop the second iteration of The Gund’s Junior Fellowship Program, with a focus on waste and sustainability in art and literature. The Junior Fellowship is a program designed to create more, unique, and intensive opportunities for Kenyon students to learn about professions in the art world; to give them a better sense of how to create their own paths; to connect with experts and professionals in various fields; and to access opportunities for pre-professional development. The call for applications for the Junior Fellowship in Waste and Sustainability will post at the end of November.