A new movement of eco poets from black and brown communities in the UK is challenging the traditional canon of nature writing, responding to the twin pressures of the climate and biodiversity crisis with work that reimagines what nature poetry can be. The movement has gained momentum around a landmark anthology co-edited by poet Mona Arshi, who asked a question on social media that resonated widely: «Where are all our black and Asian nature writers?» The post went viral and became the catalyst for the first UK collection of eco poetry from African, Asian and Caribbean diaspora voices.
Arshi, who co-edited the anthology, said the project grew out of a frustration with the narrowness of the British nature writing tradition, which has long been dominated by a particular set of voices and landscapes. The question she posed online struck a chord with writers and readers alike, revealing a hunger for a more inclusive vision of the natural world. The resulting collection brings together poets from diverse backgrounds whose work engages with nature not as an escape from human concerns but as a space shaped by history, migration, memory and environmental change.
The anthology arrives at a moment of heightened attention to the climate crisis and its uneven impacts. For many of the poets involved, writing about nature is inseparable from writing about loss, displacement and the future of the planet. Their work reflects a sense of urgency that Arshi described as being «in the inferno» — a phrase that captures both the literal fires of a warming world and the emotional intensity of confronting ecological breakdown through poetry.
The movement has also sparked broader conversations about who gets to write about nature and whose experiences are considered part of the natural world. Publishers and literary organizations have reported growing interest in eco poetry from diverse voices, and the anthology has helped boost the genre's visibility. For Arshi, the project is not simply about adding new names to an existing tradition but about fundamentally questioning what nature poetry is for and whom it serves.
The collection includes work that ranges from meditations on specific landscapes and species to explorations of the connections between environmental destruction and social injustice. Some poems draw on ancestral knowledge and diasporic experience, while others confront the realities of pollution, extinction and climate anxiety. Together, they offer a counterpoint to the pastoral idyll that has often defined British nature writing, insisting that the natural world is also a site of struggle, survival and resistance.
Arshi has said that the time has come to write about daffodils again — but with a difference. The reference to Wordsworth's iconic flower signals both a continuity with the English nature poetry tradition and a deliberate reworking of it. The new eco poets are not rejecting the genre but expanding it, making room for perspectives that have long been marginalized. In doing so, they are helping to redefine what nature means in a time of ecological crisis, and who has the authority to speak for it.
The anthology's impact extends beyond the literary world. It has become a touchstone for discussions about diversity in the arts and about the role of culture in addressing the climate emergency. As the movement grows, it is likely to influence not only poetry but also the broader environmental movement, which has increasingly recognized the need to center voices that have been excluded from mainstream conversations about nature and conservation.
