»Soft Magic – Poetry & Worldmaking«

From the start, language was magic – more than just symbols. Already in Mesopotamian, Sumerian, and ancient Egyptian writings, language was considered to be a generative force. In the Old Testament, the world was created through the spoken word (»Let there be light«). And in Indigenous cosmologies, words, songs, and incantations have the power to bring about reality. Here, language is not a description of the world, it’s an act – a magical speech that summons and shapes reality. To this day, the magical origins of language persist in our rhymes, chants, and songs.
Poetica 11 invites us to explore the relationship between magical worldmaking speech acts and activism. It proposes that we view our planet as a place of solidarity, coexistence, and resistance. In a cyclical movement, we return to collective rituals and spells – while also engaging with entangled social inequalities, a plurality of (climate) crises, and wars of our time.
Where and how does poetry get involved in the alchemy of worldmaking? Can it be an »undersong« to social transformation, can it write it into existence, and inspire tender ways of being? How do poetic speech acts turn into »soft magic« that spreads its power out in the social fabric of the world? 
Despite coming from different poetic traditions, the authors of Poetica 11 are united by their passionate and deeply engaged exploration of language’s reality-shaping potential. Far from escapism, they expand the poem’s space for freedom and are often driven by social injustices and the magic hidden in the world.
They bring humor, amplify voices of resistance, and evoke the songs of endangered whales. With Indigenous and decolonial systems of knowledge, they invite us to discover new ways of speaking; they sing of the connection and love across species: »Where your hands have been are diamonds on my shoulders, down my back, thighs« (Natalie Diaz). 
In doing such, Poetica develops ways of being together and caring for one another – for humans, more-than-human beings, and the planet – and itself becomes a counterspell against the brutal and isolating realities of our time.

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Rike Scheffler