The Waste Land Project

The Waste Land Project will be a live, hybrid exchange—across borders and boundaries—between poets and audiences in Toronto, Ukraine, and other parts of the world, to help frame a powerful, global discussion about some of the timeless themes of T.S. Eliot’s 100-year-old poem, “The Waste Land,” including the impact of war on families and communities, environmental and societal collapse, colonial violence, and pandemics.

Originally published in 1922, following the devastation of both WWI and the Spanish Flu, "The Waste Land" reflected the challenges of its time. With its clear present-day parallels, such as growing inequality, the war in Ukraine, the ongoing impact of the pandemic, and the ever-present threat of climate change, the poem resonates deeply with the challenges of the present moment.

This free, public event, presented by Theater of War Productions and the Toronto International Festival Authors, will feature the actor Kathleen Chalfant (House of Cards) reading selections from “The Waste Land” on Zoom, followed by a group of poets, in-person and on Zoom, reading poems in response to “The Waste Land,” culminating in a guided audience discussion.

The Waste Land Project will feature readings by Madhur Anand (Canadian Poet and Professor of Ecology and Sustainability), A.F. Moritz (Poet Laureate of Toronto), Erin Robinsong (Poet and Interdisciplinary Artist working with Ecological Imagination), Halyna Kruk (Poet, Translator, and Medieval Literature Professor at Lviv State University), Iryna Shuvalova (Poet and Scholar from Kyiv, Ukraine, based in Nanjing, China) and Alex Averbuch (Literary Historian, Poet, and Translator.)

The Waste Land Project will take place on Zoom Webinar and can be accessed on personal devices. The event Zoom link will be distributed via email and available to registered attendees starting 2 days prior to the event. This hybrid event will be broadcast live from the Toronto International Festival of Authors and will engage a large, global audience on Zoom.

This event will be captioned in English, with Ukrainian and English audio interpretation.

All of Theater of War Productions' events follow the same format:

• The poets and performers will read and respond to the texts.
• We will open the discussion to the audience, facilitated by Bryan Doerries. During the discussion, please raise your hand using the button at the bottom center of the screen. If called upon, please accept the invitation to be promoted to speak and you will be visible and heard by the entire audience for the duration of your comments. If you would prefer not to be seen, please disable your video.