6.3 Katie Holten: The Language of Trees

Welcome to series 6, episode 3 of the Prompted by Nature podcast.  I’m Helen and I’m really happy to be back with this conversation with Katie Holten.  As I mentioned previously, because art and nature are so inextricably linked for me, this week’s action point, should you wish to get involved, is on the episode page for this conversation over on the website.

Action point: Pop over to the Greenpeace website and have a look at (and sign!) their current petitions: https://www.greenpeace.org.uk/take-action/

This week we’ll be hearing from the very wonderful Katie Holten.  Katie Holten is an artist and activist based in New York City and Ardee, Ireland.    For over twenty years Katie has made unconventional works that intersect art, activism, ecology, language and history. At the root of her practice is a commitment to fighting the climate and biodiversity emergency. Her collaborative research-based work explores the inextricable relationship between Humans and Nature, between organic systems and human-made systems.  Several years ago, recognizing a looming crisis of representation as our species adapts to life in the Anthropocene, Holten created a Tree Alphabet and published the book ABOUT TREES, offering readers a language beyond the Human.  During lockdown, Holten made an Irish Tree Alphabet (2020) to explore language ecosystems and the importance of our words and the stories that we share.  

In this conversation we discuss:

• Her new book, the Language of trees, how it came about and Katie’s process in putting it all together

• Katie’s NYC Tree Alphabet and its wider implications

• The magic of the Irish Tree Ogham

• Art as facilitation of ideas

• The book as a merging of science, poetry, journalism and music

• Art as activism

• The impact that her upbringing in Ireland has had on her work

• The importance of community spaces in environmental activism

• The creative advice she would give to her younger self and what she’s looking forward to

I love how far-reaching art and creativity can be when it comes to communicating about the urgency of climate collapse and climate justice as well as how connected we all are in order to inspire people to get involved in whatever way they can.

The Language of Trees is a stunning book filled with the words of some incredible writers from all genres and the beautiful artwork created by Katie’s tree alphabet.  It’s out now and you can get it at your favourite independent bookshop.  I’ve also popped in the Prompted by Nature bookshop over on https://uk.bookshop.org/shop/promptedbynature . You can download the font here: http://www.nyctrees.org/

Episodes that would go well with this episode:

5.2a Amy-Jane Beer: The Flow

5.1a Bryony Benge-Abbott:  Exploring the Intersections

4.13a Jackee Holder: Writing with Trees in the Urban Landscape

3.7a Rosalind Lowry: Land Art: Celebrating our Boglands

You can find me in the usual places - on Twitter, Instagram and Facebook and on the website www.promptedbynature.co.uk  You can subscribe to my Substack newsletter over on Substack by going to https://promptedbynature.substack.com/  Thank you to my paid subscribers who help support this podcast and get lots of treats like the e-zine and write-along bonus episodes.  Please do consider becoming a paid subscriber if you are able to.

I’ll be back in a few days with the writing prompt that accompanies this episode but in the meantime I’m sending you lots of love. 

Happy listening and I’ll speak to you soon! x