''Cli-Fi'' Fiction’s Role in Raising Climate Change Awareness

Authors Discussed Cli-Fi Fiction’s Role in Climate Change Awareness

For Earth Day 2019, authors and scholars discussed cli-fi's contribution to the culture at large

 

Shanti Escalante, Contributing Writer

April 24, 2019 [Edited for brevity]                                                      

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At the Gallatin School of Individualized Study, writers and artists spoke about the different ways to portray climate change in ''cli-fi'' fiction. (via Wikimedia)

To celebrate Earth Day, teachers, authors and artists discussed how fiction writing can enhance readers’ understanding of climate change in an event at the Gallatin School of Individualized Study.
A member of NYU’s Institute for Public Knowledge’s Climate Working Group brought in authors including Pitchaya Sudbanthad and Helen Phillips to celebrate a special issue of Guernica magazine. Titled “Climate Fiction: Special Issue,” the issue discussed “cli-fi,” a genre of fiction focused on climate change.

At the event co-sponsored by the Climate Working Group, the Asian/Pacific/American Institute at NYU and the Asian American Writer’s Workshop, moderators and authors sought to explore how fiction can be used as a tool to inform and mobilize readers in regards to climate change.

“Climate change isn’t your traditional villain; you can’t shoot it with a gun,” one scholar said. “But what these authors can do is take something that is statistical and give it characters, dialogue.”

Characters in fictional stories about climate change are often anxious, reflecting how the authors themselves feel about the topic. Pitchaya said it was his own fear that helped him write cli-fi.