Julian Aguon & Nina Mingya Powles: Making Environmental Politics Personal

Julian Aguon has witnessed first-hand the impact of globalisation and colonialism on the island of Guam in the Western Pacific. In a bid to support the struggles of peoples across Oceania, the human rights lawyer has founded Blue Ocean Law, working at the intersection of Indigenous rights and environmental justice. The Properties of Perpetual Lights is a memoir-cum-manifesto featuring searing analyses of a range of issues including American nuclear weapons deployment and non-consensual medical experiments in the region.

In this event, filmed live at the 2021 Edinburgh International Book Festival, Aguon joined remotely from Guam to discuss his life and work and Nina Mingya Powles, an award-winning writer and publisher from Aotearoa New Zealand joined live on stage in the venue.

Powles won the inaugural Nan Shepherd Prize for Nature Writing in 2019 and as part of the Prize, Scottish publisher Canongate published a book of her writing. Small Bodies of Water mixes memoir with beautiful portrayals of the natural world in a series of luminous essays that move from London to Shanghai and Malaysia. Both writers bring a fascinating perspective on a world where the personal and the political intertwine.

Book Festival News

Communities Programme participants celebrate success of 2024 Communities Programme participants celebrate success of 2024
Friday 13 December

Enjoying this event? You can help us produce more like it.

Donate

Share

Watch more

Playing with Books: The Yellow Door by Kathleen Jamie Playing with Books: The Yellow Door by Kathleen Jamie In the fourth year of our celebrated co-productions with the Royal Lyceum Theatre Edinburgh, we present theatrical and musical explorations of scenes from much-loved books, followed by a discussion with the author and creative teams. Kathleen Jamie thinks… Ada Limón: The Images of Poetry Ada Limón: The Images of Poetry National Book Critics Circle Award winner Ada Limón joins us to present a powerful new poetry collection, The Hurting Kind. Limón charts the interconnectedness between humans and non-humans, the living and their ancestors. Her work constructs joyfully… Iman Mersal: The Limits and Pleasures of Egyptian Womanhood Iman Mersal: The Limits and Pleasures of Egyptian Womanhood Iman Mersal is a major figure in international literature, an Egyptian poet whose work is characterised by her ardently experimental style. Her latest novel, Fee Athar Enayat Al Zayyat (In the Footsteps of Enayat Al-Zayyat), was published in 2019 and was… Scottish Publisher Showcase Scottish Publisher Showcase Get a taste of the breadth of Scotland’s vibrant publishing landscape from the shores of Leith to the Isle of Lewis. With 100-plus publishers in our small country, we celebrate and amplify the voices of the established and debut publishers who, despite… Caroline Criado Perez talks to Sally Magnusson at the Edinburgh International Book Festival Caroline Criado Perez talks to Sally Magnusson at the Edinburgh International Book Festival In conversation with Sally Magnusson, award-winning feminist campaigner and writer Caroline Criado Perez exposes the hidden systematic discrimination women face every day. Her book Invisible Women is her clarion call for change, bringing together new… Outriders: Jennifer Haigh & Malachy Tallack (2017 Event) Outriders: Jennifer Haigh & Malachy Tallack (2017 Event) As part of our Outriders project to explore the Americas, Dakota-based novelist and environmental campaigner Jennifer Haigh travelled with Scottish writer Malachy Tallack on a journey that took in the Midwestern heartlands of Donald Trump's USA… Jess Phillips (2017 Event) Jess Phillips (2017 Event) Journalist Julie Burchill calls her 'a breath of fresh air, with a dirty laugh'. In Everywoman, Labour politician Jess Phillips shouts long and loudly about the things she cares most about: poverty, equality, the rights of refugees and serving her… Houzan Mahmoud: Smoke Coming From My Soul Houzan Mahmoud: Smoke Coming From My Soul Kurdish Women’s Stories is the brainchild of Houzan Mahmoud, a Kurdish writer, public lecturer and anti-war activist. Unforgettable and deeply moving, it’s a vitally important book which goes beyond the common depiction of women simply as victims of war… Kathleen Jamie, Peter Mackay & Don Paterson: Heavenly Scottish Poetry Kathleen Jamie, Peter Mackay & Don Paterson: Heavenly Scottish Poetry ‘It’s Hell for the poet arriving for the gig’ – so began Liz Lochhead’s 2004 poem ‘Hell for Poets’. But perhaps what her poem really wanted to express is that hell itself (or the biggest challenges thrown at us in life) can often be inspiration for the… Arifa Akbar: The Complexity of Sisterhood Arifa Akbar: The Complexity of Sisterhood In 2016, Arifa Akbar’s sister Fauzia died suddenly, leaving Arifa and her family suspended between shock and disbelief. Only shortly beforehand did she learn that her sister was suffering from tuberculosis. Akbar is the Guardian’s chief theatre critic and…