Two recent anthologies highlight pressing cultural and environmental themes through a focus on women writers and climate change. One, *Ecoshock*, edited by Glyn Edwards, gathers poems that confront the urgent realities of the climate crisis, while also exploring how individuals and societies grapple with this unprecedented challenge.

Edwards reflects on the difficulty of discussing climate change with younger generations, noting his unease in conveying the severity of current heatwaves to his teenage son. He expresses concern that overwhelming youth with data might lead to anxiety rather than constructive engagement, contrasting his own earlier, less technologically saturated upbringing with today’s pervasive smartphone culture. In this context, Edwards references the work of commentator Marriott, who has also written extensively on the transformation in how people consume information and literature.

Marriott, an astute columnist at the Times, offers a critical examination of the decline in reading habits across developed societies. Drawing on statistics, he highlights that over one-third of adults in the UK have abandoned reading entirely, while in the United States, reading for pleasure dropped by 40% during the first two decades of the 21st century. Organizations like the National Literacy Trust have described decreases in children’s reading engagement as "shocking and dispiriting."

Marriott situates these trends within a broader media landscape shaped by technological change. He acknowledges the influence of theorists like Neil Postman, who warned decades ago about television’s role in diminishing public discourse, and Walter Ong, who explored the shift from written to oral cultures. Marriott argues that while television can be physically avoided, smartphones demand constant attention, eroding the capacity for sustained reading and reflection. The pervasive consumption of “bite-sized” information through social media and digital platforms reinforces this shift toward a more confrontational and fragmented public dialogue.

Despite his defense of print culture, Marriott also recognizes its transitory nature. He notes that mass literacy and widespread reading are relatively recent historical phenomena, emerging only after Gutenberg’s invention of the printing press and expanding through innovations like Allen Lane’s Penguin paperbacks in the 1930s. The distribution of classic literature in "Armed Services Editions" during World War II further institutionalized reading as a form of entertainment and education. Yet even by the 1940s, this era was beginning to wane with the rise of cinema, radio, and later television.

Together, these anthologies and analyses illuminate the shifting landscape of cultural consumption and the challenges of engaging with complex global issues like climate change amid rapid technological and social transformations. They invite reflection on how reading and poetic expression continue to serve as vital forms of resistance and understanding in a rapidly evolving world.