CULTURE EDITION
BOOKS
Discover ‘cli-fi’ Climate fiction is a literary phenomenon. Local author Kate Sawyer explores how stories inspire hope and deliver powerful messages I n recent years, climate fiction, or ‘cli-fi’, has entered the publishing lexicon as a myriad of authors address one of the most pressing talking about it,” says author Kate Sawyer, based in Bury St Edmunds. “It’s been about 100 years since the alarms started ringing.” Since its publication back in 2021, Words PHOEBE HARPER Portrait SOPHIE DAVIDSON
Kate’s debut novel The Stranding has been categorised under the cli-fi genre, yet for her it’s primarily a story about human relationships. The fact that environmental themes emerge – the work is partly set in a post-climate-change apocalyptic future, where a young woman and a stranger are forced to take refuge in the corpse of a beached whale – is the result of Kate’s personal concerns coming to the fore. “Growing up in the 80s, I was always making myself unpopular at school, talking about climate issues as certain things came to light in the news,” she says. “But I never set out to write cli-fi and had never even heard of the term until after the book was published. Whatever is most important to you will always creep into your work.” Hope wins For many, climate anxiety can be a real concern, creating a sense of dread that doesn’t make for easy reading. But for Kate, it all boils down to the power of a good story, balancing the big issues with the small to override all the doom and gloom. “I’m interested in probing the most difficult things we go through and finding hope within that,” she says. “A lot of post-apocalyptic fiction is concerned with
issues of our time. While the buzzword might be new, plied by the industry as a useful tool for classification and sales, the concerns behind it stretch back decades. “Climate has been written about in science fiction for as long as we’ve been
SPEAKING OUT Kate will take part in a panel on climate fiction at Waterstones this month
the worst parts of human nature. The Road , for example, is undoubtedly a masterpiece, but still describes people eating each other! I’m more interested in how we navigate the worst life throws at us and what joy is left when everything else is taken away.” Although Kate’s book is set in the future, she maintains that joy can still be found today by making positive choices and appreciating what we’ve got. “It’s important to recognise how lucky we are,” she says. “It’s more effective to present a certain behaviour rather than instructing others about what’s good or bad. I have chosen a bleak outcome in The Stranding , but there’s hope within that. If people are hopeless, that just causes inertia. There must always be hope for a better way.” Kate will be speaking on a Climate Fiction panel with Katie Hale and Manda Scott at Waterstones Cambridge on 13 November. Book tickets at waterstones.com/events
The Choir of King’s College is scouting for talented young choristers in years 2-4 at school. All you need is a love of music and singing, and a desire to learn. Email choristers@ kings.cam.ac.uk or call 01223 365814. Call for choristers
A plaque on the wall of The Eagle pub, Bene’t Street, has been updated to acknowledge Rosalind Franklin’s role in discovering DNA. The old, graffitied plaque has been acquired by the Whipple Museum of the History of Science. New DNA plaque
CAMBSEDITION.CO.UK NOVEMBER 2024 23
Powered by FlippingBook