Cli-fi, but why?

Here’s why.

We stand now at this point in the early part of the 21st century where most people realize that climate change is real and that runaway global warming may very well put human civilization as we know it in major jeopardy. What to do? ”Ou va la France,” as the French say?

One thing writers and artists and poets and playwrights and film directors can do is create works that reflect our concerns about climate change impact events now or in the near future. In some cases, even in the distant future.

We need an army of writers, poets, Hollywood producers. And one platform that this army can use to place their works on is cli-fi. That’s why we need cli-fi, and that’s why cli-fi is here now, front and center.

And we invite all writers and creative people to use the cli-fi platform as they see fit, and do what they want to do and say what they want to say on paper or on digital film. Write your hearts out! Don’t give up!

I say all this today because news has reached me that for the first time ever, a major science fiction convention of writers and fans, WorldCon 75 in Helskinki, Finland this summer, has organized a panel discussion with five top novelists titled “Turning Up the Heat on Cli-Fi.”

There! WorldCon 75 used the cli-fi term on its own, without any prompting from PR people in New York or London or Sydney. This marks the beginning of more cooperation between sci-fi writers and cli-fi writers. We are cousins, joined at the hip (and at the brain stem).

The WorldCon 75 website explains the panel this way: “In an environmentally conscious 21st century, there’s a new kid on the speculative fiction block — Cli-Fi. Our panel will begin by looking at the rise of climate-focused fiction and discuss what separates the good from the bad, before speculating on what influence these novels can have on the literary and political landscape.”

The moderator is Professor Siobhan Carroll, with writers Sarah Goslee, Risto Isomäki, Anne Charnock and Cat Sparks participating in the panel discussion.