Climate change is profoundly disturbing Earth systems but, as Amitav Ghosh puts it, “the climate crisis is also a crisis of culture, and thus of the imagination.” In this context, what is storytelling? And does it have a role to play in responding to the climate crisis? If so, what role?
Speakers:
- Nadia Bozak and Barbara Leckie are professors at Carleton in the Department of English.
- Nadia’s work focuses on climate change and how narrative and visual art are informed by extraction of raw resources and patterns of consumption.
- Barbara is Founder of the Carleton Climate Commons and the Academic Director of Re.Climate. Her work is centred on climate change and the humanities.
Actions
- As a reader, passionately engage in the works you read and practice critically thinking
- Chose what you read wisely
- Flex your imagination muscles, imagine what your ideal day to day life would be like. What are some little steps you can do to make your ideal?
- If you aren’t a reader, try to engage with video or audio formats
- Create or join a book club! It’s a fantastic setting to have deep discussions on what you’ve read or heard
- If you like a book or want access to a book, recommend to your nearby library to include it in their stock! Most likely they will say yes.
- After you read/consume something, try to discuss it with a friend or family member to reflect on what you’ve learned and pass on information
Resource List
The following is a list of resources recommended by attendees at our event.
Climate-related fiction books:
- Vandana Singh books
- “Indra’s Web” from Ambiguity Machines
- Annihilation by Jeff Vandermeer
- Dune series by Frank Herbert
- Ministry for the Future by Kim Stanely Robinson
Non-fiction Climate storytelling:
- On Time and Water by Andre Snaer Magnuso
- The Great Derangement by Amitav Ghosh
Non-fiction books on story-telling, not all are climate related:
- Out of the Wreckage: A New Politics for an Age of Crisis by George Monbiot
- Not Too Late by Rebecca Solnit and Thelma Young-Lutunatabua
- Dear Science and Other Stories by Katherine McKittrick
- Seduced by Story: The Use and Abuse of Narrative by Peter Brooks
- Radical Hope by Johnathan Lear
Articles and websites:
- Climate Disaster Project, stories from people affected by climate change
Passionate Immersion in research or reading:
- Van Dooren, Thom, Eben Kirksey, and Ursula Münster, ‘Multispecies Studies: Cultivating Arts of Attentiveness’, Environmental Humanities, 8.1 (2016), 1–23 <https://doi.org/10.1215/22011919-3527695>