Rotary Arts Conversations
Join us for an in-depth discussion with Betsy Bolton, professor of English Literature at Swarthmore College. Betsy is a poet who explores the connections between human beings and the other-than-human world, using nature poetry to invite readers into the more complex moral accounting of ecological history
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Betsy Bolton
Betsy Bolton’s recent work has appeared in journals like The Hopper, Gyroscope Review, Split Rock Review, Notre Dame Review, Stone Canoe, Atticus Review, and Ecozon@. Her first full-length collection, Mouth Art of the Bald-faced Hornet, was published by Finishing Line Press in May 2024. The title poem was nominated for a Pushcart Prize in 2023; another poem (“Seized”) was nominated for Best of the Net that same year. An earlier chapbook was longlisted for the Kingdoms in the Wild 2022 Poetry Prize, and “Broken” won first place in the modern category of the Helen Schaible 2022 International Sonnet Contest. Her work explores the interweaving of human and more-than-human histories from colonial settlement to the present day, reminding readers of the ecological history and forgotten biodiversity remaining even in suburbia. Botany, insect reproduction, fairy tales, forgotten atrocities, and deep history all suggest different possibilities for human relationships with one another and with the extra-human world. While engaging with embedded violence, abuse, and loss, these poems still insist on beauty as they embody human yearning for both love and transformation.[1] Betsy has also served as a Fulbright scholar to both Morocco and Bhutan, where she facilitated the creation of digital stories (short, autobiographical videos) and filmed miniature documentaries of traditional crafts. She teaches at Swarthmore College, on Lenape land, at the edge of the Piedmont and the coastal plain.