About

The House Of Infinite Loss is concerned with preserving, translating, and cherishing poetry written in endangered tongues. Our archive exists to prevent further loss and to serve as an open resource for those interested in these languages, whether for educational value or their beauty. A literary archive & journal, we feature a monthly issue of poetry centered on single-word prompts to incentivize new work and subjective/topical breadth. For our first issue, we ask “why?”

Of the approximately 6,000 languages spoken today, only 5% of these languages have speakers who are not elderly, putting them at severe risk of disappearing as these elders pass away. Moreover, the extinction rate of languages is outpacing even the extinction rate of biodiversity, with 90% of the world’s languages expected to vanish within this century. On average, that’s one language dying every two weeks. What’s worth noting with this, is the reality of people who become the last speakers of their native language. Mostly elderly, as previously, they have no one left to speak with in their mother tongue, and with their own death, witness the complete extinction of their language, and by that, heritage. Which I imagine to be the loneliest feeling in the world.

The loss of linguistic diversity, we should be aware, is the loss of cultural diversity. As the world shifts toward a homogenized culture, languages are eroded, and with it, art, tradition, and matters of life.

In The House of Infinite Loss, we understand that the death of a language is not just the loss of words but the loss of a distinct worldview, a way of understanding, and a way of life. Poetry, as the art of language, showcases the metaphorical, empathic, imaginative, and nonverbal flexibility inherent in linguistic expression. This is why poetry is at the heart of our preservation efforts—because it embodies the unique ways in which these languages captures the human experience.