Q. Phil, how did this initial idea develop into a full creative project? What inspired you to bring poetry and climate resilience together?

"The inspiration was very much grounded in the understanding that poetry – perhaps more so than other forms – can unite a precision with emotion and personal reaction. We knew that Sophie, as a children’s author, would also be experienced in helping make complex concepts relatable. The process of working with Sophie, from the first interactions where we helped her understand JBA’s ambitions, approaches and culture, laid the foundations for her creativity to shine."   

Q. Sophie, what was your first reaction when you received the brief? What intrigued or challenged you most about taking on a project like this?

"I love a fresh challenge, and I also enjoy bringing stories and poems to unexpected places and contexts. I was excited and intrigued by the prospect of working with JBA. I'm naturally very curious, so I was immediately keen to understand as much as I could about both the work of JBA and the very notion of climate resilience. The challenge was initially getting a solid understanding of this unfamiliar territory and then communicating it in a way that readers could respond to with both hearts and minds."

Q. Phil, when you first imagined the poem, did you have a particular theme, tone, or message in mind? And how did those early ideas evolve as you began working with Sophie?

"Not really, no; I was keen to provide Sophie with the freedom to select the tone, message and format that she felt best expressed the sentiment she was seeking to create. We gave Sophie descriptions of our five Resilience Themes (people, places, assets, landscapes and organisations) together with a few other ‘ingredients’ to work with. We were completely delighted to see the first working draft.  Sophie had chosen a title – We Are Resilience – which made a bold statement that resilience is deeply embedded in people, place, asset, landscape and organisation."   

Q. Sophie, how did you approach writing the poem — what was your creative process like from first thoughts to final draft? Were there any moments during the writing where the piece surprised you or took on a life of its own?

"As with any successful collaborative work, creating We Are Resilience involved a lot of listening, learning and understanding. After an initial period of research, ideas began forming about how to take the complex ideas and key themes Phil has mentioned and work these into something more compact and powerful. 

"I found myself drawing on examples of resilience within the natural world and using these metaphorically. I then began playing with various ways to bring in the 'whole society' idea, which led to using 'We' as a pronoun - this really propelled the poem and kind of gave it a framing device, and a title! The poem ended up finding a rhythm and a rhyme almost accidentally. My poems don't always rhyme; sometimes they rhyme internally and sometimes not at all, but I think having rhyme here makes the poem more accessible and impactful and therefore suits the purpose of the project."

Q. Phil, what was your initial reaction when you read the finished poem for the first time?

"I loved it, for many reasons! One such being that it invites the reader to personalise the very strong imagery; it’s not didactic.  And that, I think, is the beauty of the piece.  No matter where we come from, or what direct experiences we’ve had of a changing climate, we can all visualise villages high on cliffs, or shops facing the overspill from a river."

Q. Sophie, how did it feel to see the poem complete and out in the world?

"It's always hard to know when a poem, or any writing, is 'complete'. I guess that moment comes when you hand it over for other people to read and stop tweaking and fiddling and making changes. At that point, the poem no longer belongs to the poet - it belongs to the reader. And reading itself is a powerful creative act.

I very much hope that each person who reads my poem will have their own response to it, either emotionally or cognitively or both, and through this, a whole new dialogue opens up. A kind of conversation between the ideas at the poem's genesis, the concepts within it, the thoughts and emotions evoked in readers themselves. That's always the hope behind any piece of writing when you open it up to be read by others - that it should go on to have a life beyond the page.

This fascinating project has been so wonderful to be part of, and I feel it really shows the power and value of creative collaboration  – I’m grateful to JBA for entrusting me with writing this poem and for being so delightful to work with."

Q. And finally, Phil, why is it important for JBA to collaborate with artists? And what do you think this poem adds to JBA’s vision of leading in society’s pursuit of resilience to climate change?

"Sophie's poem adds a richness to our growing portfolio of collaborating with those who can bring our climate resilience ambitions to life. If we’re to build a whole society resilience to climate change, we know that we need to find new ways to communicate what we do, so it’s relatable for everyone."