Honey Novick on Sustainability
Hosted by Nina Munteanu
October 15 2026 - 15
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The Sustainability thread is a thematic series of articles, curated by Canadian SF author Nina Munteanu and sponsored by Reality Skimming Press. Pieces in the series appear twice a month. Query Nina Munteanu about appearing on the thread at nina.sfgirl@gmail.com
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My guest today is Canadian artist and author Lynn Hutchinson Lee.
Interview with
My guest today is Honey Novick, a Canadian singer, songwriter and poet. A celebrated voice
teacher, Honey is currently facilitator for the “Voice Yoga” group at the Secret Handshake
Gallery. She was recently awarded her 6th Gerstein Award.
y guest today is Canadian artist and author Lynn Hutchinson Lee.
Nina: How would you define sustainability and what do you consider the key components to be sustained?
Honey: When I think of sustainability, I think of people’s survival. To sustain the population,
one must understand what keeps all living beings alive: air, water, healthy food primarily. The
secondary aspect, for me, is how do people recognize their spirituality, interconnectedness and
“hope”, a way of sustaining one’s spirit in the face of adversity. That is expressed through
music, poetry, dance, art et al.
Nina: What does the phrase of our thread title "Sustainability Before Ambition" mean to you and how does it affect you: how you live, what you write?
Honey: This thread title is very deep. It beggars the thought and questions how do
sustainability and ambition intersect? I see sustainability as being the primary focus of survival
while ambition becomes moot when one cannot sustain themselves. This affects me because I
try to take very good care of my health and my spiritual being. I am respectful of the food I buy
and eat. I am sensitive to odors – good and bad and I am aware of how I am affected by other
people’s energies. I’m sensitive to positivity so if someone is very negative, I’m affected,
troubled, disturbed. I write about what sustains me – my hopes, my view of humanity,
interactions with other people, politics as I see it and of course what I hear both with my ears
and my heart. I am sustained by hope and when I feel comfortable or challenged, I turn that
hope into ambition – to be heard, to be seen, to share, to engage.
Nina: In your community, what do you see as the major barriers and facilitators of sustainable
living?
Honey: The major barriers, as I see it, are people who put the economy before the well-being of
others. For example, our current P.M. wants to build oil pipelines even though the First Nations
people on the land are objecting. I find when we, as a community, do not live in harmony with
First Nations, it is a red flag to sustainability and a harbinger of ambition.
Nina: Do you feel that authors can play a role in encouraging a sustainable lifestyle? Do any
particular writing genres play a more substantial role in establishing a narrative of
sustainability?
Honey: YES! I love Robin Wall Kimmerer who teaches people to look at our living world as if we
are related, because we are. I love Wendell Berry’s writing because he is able to express his
spirit in relation to his world view. Prof. and journalist Stephen Scharper writes about
spirituality and the environment.
On a personal note, once upon a time, smoking in public places was accepted in the City of
Toronto. There was a vote in city hall to address this issue. When I got a call from a colleague
that there was going to be a deputation at City Hall and would I partake as a person who could
address council, I agreed. The night before, I thought long and hard how to make my deposition
strong. I got the idea to sing what I felt was significant. I knew the issue was imperative. I saw
how important to my health and the health of the public was. I wrote lyrics to the old song
"Streets of Laredo" and called my song "Streets of Toronto". I wrote a song based on my feeling of smoke’s effect on humans. I wasn’t the only person but I was the only singer. It made the
headlines in the Toronto Sun. The restaurant lobby was threatened, feeling their business
would suffer (which it has not). Not just my lyrics but my approach to singing what I believe to
be a health risk, caught the attention of everyone in the chamber. I had to be courageous and
confident.
I mention this in terms of sustainability because air is primary in our survival. We can last
longer without food or water or sleep but we cannot last very long without good air. I had to
fight for this human right and I did!
Nina: How was sustainability achieved (or not achieved) in a world that you (or another
author) created? Was it inspired from a real example?
Honey: As previously mentioned, I helped Toronto’s citizens get rid of smoking in public. My
poem “Tree-dom” explains and expresses how I feel about all these things:
TREE = DOM
By Honey Novick
I am a poetriot, yes, someone who
poetically defends my country, vigorously
this land is not my land, nor is it your land
those who love trees and rivers and birds and
breathable air are poetriots,
defenders of TREE-DOM
It is in tree-dom that oxygen freely flows
where roots go down deep, deep into historic soil
In fighting for tree-dom, I stand with
all trees: palms, maples, sequoias, yew, locusts, all of them
In tree-dom birds confidently fly
bugs give their beings to feed others
leaves grow
hope aspires
in tree-dom dreams rule as the winds waft through the branches
bussing each leaf, acknowledging each limb
In tree-dom health and wealth are decided
on what is bought and sold and that determines
the ethos of a culture, a society
In tree-dom lies true freedom
to flee from greed
to a world of the handy opposable thumb
BIO: Honey Novick is a singer/songwriter/voice teacher/poet. She is a member of the League of
Canadian Poets, Writer’s Union of Canada and Poetry in Voice. Her Member of Provincial
Parliament nominated her for Poet Laureate of the Province of Ontario. She has had eight
recordings and ten chapbooks published. Her collection of poems and stories called “Voice
Yoga, Now” was published in 2026 by One Thousand Trees, in Guelph, Ontario. The Stop
Community Centre awarded her 2024 Outstanding Neighbor. Honey earned her 5 th Gerstein
Legacy Fund award in teaching Voice Yoga. She is currently facilitator for the “Voice Yoga”
group at the Secret Handshake Gallery. http://www.honeynovick.com
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Nina Munteanu is an Canadian ecologist, author, editor and writing coach, notably but not exclusively in the realm of Speculative Fiction (SF/F). In addition to nine published novels, Munteanu has written short stories, articles and non-fiction books, which have been translated into several languages throughout the world. Munteanu is a member of SF Canada.
Nina Munteanu on LinkedIn. https://www.linkedin.com/in/ninamunteanu/
Nina Munteanu Writing Coach. https://ninamunteanu.me/
Nina Munteanu (Wikipedia). https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nina_Munteanu
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