‘ “The Land” has always had a fraught history with the land. Cleveland strives to be a green city on a blue lake, moving away from its history with environmental disaster like the Cuyahoga River fire in 1969, a blaze accepted by residents as an inevitable side effect of industries that had brought prosperity to the region. Throughout the city’s history, there have always been questions of industry versus nature. Since the Cuyahoga River fire, Cleveland has been plagued with other environmental difficulties: increased air pollutants, decreased tree canopies, abandoned shells of industry, climate change inequity.’
This is how Aparna Paul begins an anthology of poems, stories and essays on Cleveland’s industrial development and environmental issues.
“Reflections of The Land: Meditations on Environment & Industry was created by Aparna Paul, a participant in the internship program at Literary Cleveland, as a part of our ongoing Amplify Voices series. This series was designed to empower, uplift, and celebrate communities by giving them the platform to tell their own stories on their own terms.” – Literary Cleveland
https://www.litcleveland.org/events-programs/reflections-of-the-land-anthology
The Moving Hand Writes 