stewarding

stewarding maps the joyful and embodied ways we can resist oppressive structures that control our food, housing, and socialisation. We begin in an abandoned school, previously the union headquarters for a coal board, which became a legal guardianship, now condemned. We witness acts of communing between human inhabitants, composting worms, microbes in fermentation, and learn working class histories along the way. Here, complex networks emerge between agents, and thrive, disrupting the monolithic power of corporate extraction. Sean Roy Parker’s debut collection of poetry is a generous account of hopeful ways to eat and ways to live.

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I live amongst stewards who paint walls lazure

and fix leaks to fend off black fungal bloom.

I live amongst a family of swifts settled in the rafters

who shit on the windowsills and draw lines on dusk skies.

I live amongst vivacious and herbaceous edges,

billowing with edible pioneers and

formerly kempt shrubs that now split bricks with their roots.

I live amongst dutiful pollinators that nest in rotted wood:

Brimstone, Red Admiral, Speckled Blue, Angel Shade, Old Lady

I live amongst rodents who trolley food around the perimeters

who clear up after us in the kitchen at night

who hide from the cat in tall grass.

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‘stewarding is full of sensitive advice and astute observations for scavengers, foragers, worms farmers, and citizen scientists; you'll need this when you are knee-deep in last year's dirt and dead flowers.’
– Lars Holdhus, Degrowth For Artists

‘Between verses, I am soon found reading with the worms and the squeaking cabbage, laughing with renegade tomatoes. In stewarding, Sean Roy Parker draws us closer to the ground, to the overlooked and discarded, where he points to the absolute worthiness of life. Conviviality gathers around bruised produce with spoons, as green names invoke our own familiar places, each poem surrenders anew to an innate pace and the responsibility of with-ness. Read aloud, yes, I live amongst, I live amongst!’
– Priya Jay

‘Evocative, sharply observed, and sneakily funny, stewarding is an exploration of the human relationship with plants through the senses and feelings of someone who experiences it with remarkable depth. Sean Roy Parker’s creation is a unique and beautiful thing.’

– Claire Ratinon

‘If you want to rebuild your relationship with the planet, this is the place to start. From the wriggling microbiota grown in collectively fermented cabbage, to compost lasagne and art installations for worms, stewarding teems with life. A tender and persuasive testament to a better way of living.’

– Abi Palmer