“I understand the loss that leads to despair…

It has happened to us and is happening to the land, the breaking of the heart of creation." - Linda Hogan

Fierce Lament is produced annually in some form by Minneapolis artist, writer and musician Camille J. Gage. The project aims to bring together artists, environmentalists, writers, activists, Indigenous leaders, and other collaborators in inquiry and co-creation in recognition of the growing climate crisis. After a gallery exhibition and a community dance party, 2018/19 introduces a literary focus to Fierce Lament.

Fierce Lament , the book, was originally proposed to publisher Red Bird Chapbooks in 2016, before the election and the current administration's decision to pull the United States out of the historic Paris climate accord. Although the original premise was to explore life in a time of global climate change, the focus broadened. In a time of extremism all issues are connected; we cannot decouple environmental stewardship from education, militarism, racism, or any other issue. Everything is inextricably linked. In the end contributors to the Fierce Lament anthology were invited to cast a wider net, as they answered the question: "How can we survive, and even thrive, in a time of changing climate and growing political extremism.

Fierce Lament was edited by Camille J. Gage with editorial assistance from Tami Mohamed Brown (Red Bird Chapbooks) and Carolyn Payne (Soo Visual Arts Center.)

Fierce Lament was produced and published through a partnership between Red Bird Chapbooks and Smart Set Digital Craft Print & Design, a Minnesota-based B-Corp. The book was published in October, 2018.

Fierce Lament to be published this Fall

Red Bird Chapbooks is partnering with Smart Set Digital Craft Print and Design to publish Fierce Lament in Fall of 2018.