WEST MIDLANDS: Faced with rising tides, record-breaking temperatures and natural disasters, climate scientists sometimes can’t find the words to make people understand the reality of the dangers associated with climate change. However, the literary world is on hand to help, as the author Lauren James has established The Climate Fiction Writers League, uniting them in a collective effort.
Over 50 international authors have joined The Climate Fiction Writers League, including Marcus Sedgwick, Sarah Crossan, Rebecca Roanhorse, Charlie Jane Anders, Cory Doctorow, Laura Lam, James Bradley and Piers Torday.
“The Climate Fiction Writers League are a group of authors who believe in the necessity of climate action, immediately and absolutely. Fiction is one of the best ways to inspire passion, empathy and action in readers. Our works raise awareness of climate change, and encourage action at the individual, corporate and government levels,” said Lauren James in a statement.
As a result, the website of The Climate Fiction Writers League is designed to serve as a comprehensive resource for climate fiction, or ‘cli-fi’, a literary sub-genre named by the American writer and blogger, Dan Bloom, in 2008. It will also offer a newsletter every two weeks proposing essays on climate activism, interviews with authors from the League and a round-up of climate-related news. Upcoming topics will include ‘How to Build a Solarpunk City’, ‘Connecting with Nature and Rewilding’, ‘Antarctica and environmentalism in fiction’ and ‘Queer people after the apocalypse’.
Climate fiction is increasingly making inroads into the American literary world. ‘Warmer’ for example, is a collection of short ‘cli-fi’ fictions by internationally renowned authors such as Jane Smiley (‘A Thousand Acres’), Lauren Groff (‘Fates and Furies’), Jesse Kellerman (‘The Genius’) and Jess Walter (‘Beautiful Ruins’). The collection was collated and published in 2018 by Amazon Original Stories, exploring “possible tomorrows” with climate-themed scenarios that are “darkly funny, liberating, and all too conceivable.”