{"id":6010,"date":"2024-09-26T17:54:52","date_gmt":"2024-09-26T21:54:52","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/anovelapproach.ca\/submission_calendar\/?post_type=tribe_events&p=6010"},"modified":"2024-09-26T17:55:55","modified_gmt":"2024-09-26T21:55:55","slug":"pfn-penumbra-online-seeking-submissions-on-the-theme-of-dirt","status":"publish","type":"tribe_events","link":"https:\/\/anovelapproach.ca\/submission_calendar\/event\/pfn-penumbra-online-seeking-submissions-on-the-theme-of-dirt\/","title":{"rendered":"PFN – Penumbra Online Seeking Submissions on the Theme of: Dirt"},"content":{"rendered":"

\u201cAlthough the surface of our planet is two-thirds water, we call it the Earth. We say we are earthlings, not waterlings. Our blood is closer to seawater than our bones to soil, but that’s no matter. The sea is the cradle we all rocked out of, but it’s to dust that we go. From the time that water invented us, we began to seek out dirt. The further we separate ourselves from the dirt, the further we separate ourselves from ourselves. Alienation is a disease of the unsoiled.\u201d
\u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0\u00a0 \u00a0 \u2015 Tom Robbins,\u00a0Another Roadside Attraction<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cTrillions of microorganisms, even in my own smallish backyard, like a great dark sea swarming with tiny creatures\u2014it almost makes me feel a little seasick standing here, knowing how much business is being conducted right under my feet.\u201d
\u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u2015 Kristin Ohlson,\u00a0The Soil Will Save Us: How Scientists,<\/span><\/p>\n

\u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0Farmers, and Foodies Are Healing the Soil to Save the Planet<\/span><\/p>\n

As the above quotes indicate, soil\u2014th<\/span>e, epidermal layer of the body of fertile Mother Earth\u2014is life itself; however, it is also death: it\u2019s where we return, usually with dirt thrown in our faces as the human body experiences open air for the last time and gives itself to the billion-blooded earth. Soil implicates itself in most every aspect of experience; it is in fact key to life in the Great Central Valley of California, an agricultural center and the breadbasket of the United States. Agricultural soil is an increasingly fraught political issue worldwide, as the number of small farms dwindles across the earth in an era of widespread farmland consolidation, a change threatening biodiversity and crop diversity, ultimately putting the world\u2019s food supply at risk. Monsanto is turning India\u2019s small-holding farmers into cogs in its Great Reset wheel of global agriculture, resulting in mass protests and suicides among farmers. The widespread use of GMOs has led to contamination that has affected seed purity and damaged the livelihood of non-GMO farmers. Beyond the economics and politics of soil, dirt has theological import: Adam was the \u201cdust of the earth\u201d inspired with divine breath; the Jewish golem is shaped out of clay and brought to life with a secret word; in Greek mythology, Prometheus shaped humanoid figures of clay and Athena provided them with the breath of life. Soil is also a crucial aspect of our everyday lives, even though we experience the world largely through screens, simulations, memes, and digital images without substance or texture\u2014the common condition of humanity in the grip of modern life. But to plunge one\u2019s hands into the moist, friable earth is to connect, once again, with our primal, childlike selves. We at Penumbra are anxious to gather a body of art and literature, locally sourced and from around the world, that focuses on earthy, dirt-related themes.<\/p>\n

\u200b<\/span><\/p>\n

Topics may include, but are certainly not limited to\u2026<\/span><\/p>\n