Droughts, fires and floods lead to rise of the ‘cli-fi’ novel

msn.com:

climate change for inspiration. The result is “cli-fi” - or climate fiction - which is seeing authors grappling with the apocalyptic outcomes of global heating and man’s relationship with an inhospitable planet.

Publishers have noticed that an increasing number of the manuscripts that land on their desks explore environmental concerns, whether in the contemporary world or at a point in the near distant future.

The result are titles such as the recent Weather, by Jenny Offill, and last year’s Once There Were Wolves, by Charlotte McConaghy, with more to follow.

Emad Akhtar, publishing director at Orion Fiction, says he has detected a growing number of novels preoccupied with the changing environment and its implication for humankind. “We’re seeing a new wave of writers of all ages expressing concerns which have come to be known as ‘cli-fi’ with themes of social collapse and social inequality driven by environmental problems,” he told The Telegraph. “It is definitely growing in terms of submissions and books being published and I believe there will be an increasing demand for this sort of material from readers soon, because if writers are the canary in the coalmine and if they are engaged by this, we all will be soon. ”The increase in the number of new writers tackling climate change follows pioneering work by established authors such as Margaret Atwood, whose MaddAddam trilogy explores a world where climate change has led to a bleak, dystopian future.