I am delighted that one of my new insect poems, “Artificial Light at Night (ALAN)” was Highly Commended in this year’s Ginkgo Prize for Ecopoetry.
You can find the poem, alongside many other brilliant poems, in this year’s Ginkgo Prize Ecopoetry Anthology
The poem was inspired by Douglas Boyes’ groundbreaking research about the detrimental effects of street lighting on moths, which shows that street lighting strongly reduces moth caterpillar abundance compared with unlit sites and also affects caterpillar development.
Douglas was an exceptional entomologist who sadly died in 2021. The Douglas Boyes Fund, established in his honour, aims to support young people (aged 14-18) with equipment to further their passion for insects – so if you know any keen young people then do let them know!
Light pollution has a huge impact on insects and we can all do our bit to help. Buglife points out that 80% of the world’s population now live under skyglow. Since two-thirds of invertebrates are nocturnal, the situation is now so serious that light pollution is reducing the nocturnal pollinator visits to flowers by 62% in some areas.
I hope that my artificial light poem, and other poems I’ve published recently, will raise more awareness about how we can act to support insects.
Earlier in the year, I published two new poems about honey bees and pesticides, “Neonicitinoid” and “The Quiet Hive” in The London Magazine, Mar/Apr 23.
And over the summer, my poem about the endangered Dingy Skipper Butterfly was Shortlisted for Best Poem of UK Landscape, available soon in Areas of Outstanding Natural Beauty: Best Poem of Landscape Competition Anthology, 2023. In the meantime I’m working hard on finishing my book of insect poems, so watch this space!
Rachel Bower 
Beautiful work you’re making, Rachel, and so on the nose for today’s world.
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