Saturday, August 25, 2018

Publishers applaud the rise of cli-fi genre novels as the Earth heats up and seek new novels in the rising genre

Publishers and literary agents applaud the rise of cli-fi genre novels as the Earth heats up

by staff writer and agencies

As the cyclical natural phenomena that affect our planet’s climate amplify the effect of human-made ''global warming,'' publishers and literary agents call for more cli-fi novels and movies to mirror the Earth system events that are unfolding now



Webposted August 13, 2018

The world is likely to see more extreme temperatures in the coming 40 years [2018-2060] -- to be accompanied by more and more cli-fi novels and movies to mirror reality -- as natural warming reinforces human-made climate change, according to a new global forecasting system.
To find out what people on the publishing industry think about cli-fi and its recent rise as a global literary genre in several languages, we asked a group of movers and shakers in the book industry in New York, London and Sydney what the prospects were, in their opinions, for the continued popularity of cli-fi novels and movies.
“There is a high possibility that we will be at the peak of cli-fi novels and movies for the next four decades at least,” said Astrid Markham, a prominent American literary agent based in London.

Want to know more? Ask these people quoted here yourself if you want to know more about how they view the rise of cli-fi in their industry and whether they are warming up to the new genre in the 21st century, or, if they still remain a bit cool to it all.
“If the warming trend caused by greenhouse gas emissions continues, years like 2018 will be the norm in the 2040s, and would be classed as cold by the end of the century,” according to James Renick, a climate scientist in New Zealand. 
Enter cli-fi, stage left.
Ellen Centerman, CEO of Aquarius Books in Sydney, said: "Sure, I have hear about the cli-fi term, and like sci-fi, I think such novels (and their movie adaptations) have a big future over the next 40 years. Barbara Kingsolver's Flight Behavior was a fantastic cli-fi novel, without being preachy or lecturing readers. It was just a wonderfully-written and executed novel. I expect to see more such novels in the future. I'm all for them. Bring them on! I've told my acquring editors and PR people and marketing department here in Australia to get ready for the rise of cli-fi in the publishing industry. Such novels will make reading popular again among young people."
Bob Marcus, an acquiring editor for Somesuch Books in London, an indie operation, said: "Cli-fi? It's a new term for me, but I like the sound of it and I like what it stands for. I am looking for intelligent literary fiction for my imprint, and if an agent or an author pitches me with a good cli-fi story, I will be there for meet them for lunch and sign a contract. These will be 21st century novels. With reviews in the New York Times and the Guardian. Even Hillel Italie at the Associated Press will write about these cli-fi novels and interview the authors for his always-interesting wire stories."
"Big Ed" Rosenberg, a top literary agent in Manhattan told us: "They call me 'Big Ed' in Manhattan, not such much because of my girth or my height, but because I have a big heart and I value empathy. It's how I was raised in Boston. So I am in the marrket for cli-fi novels, of course, and with our rights department, I am also interested in selling the movie rights to Hollywood producers like Brad Pitt and Leonardo DiCaprio and Marshall Herskovitz. Books to movies is part of  my business and I see cli-fi as a bright spot in the future. Just as Jeff VanderMeer's novel "Annihilation" was sold to Hollywood, I can see the same future for well-written well-plotted cli-fi novels. Jeff was a trailblazer. He is leading the way. I love the guy. Met him a few times in New York, too. We have friends in common."
Barbara Narjaram, a PR person at Jinsum Publishers in New York said:: "I never heard of cli-fi until you mentioned it. It is a new genre or something? Sounds like sci-fi but with the added value of a climate theme. We can do amazing thing with this genre in the PR world, and given the the way the world has been heating up the past ten years, or more, cli-fi is a perfect match for what ails us. If the authors are willing to do the promotional tours, and visit bookstores as part of the cli-fi promotions, I am all for it."

Daniel-Jean Bertin, who runs the marketing department for the French publisher Asterix Plus, said:: "Whatever the boss says, we can do. We have been marketing sci-fi novels for years and we know the market. So with cli-fi novels grabbing a piece of the public's mind now, we can do the same thing with cli-fi. It's a natural in this age of the Anthropocene. It's a long word but I like it. I can work it. I can work with cli-fi. Send them to me!"
Joan LeBoeuf, who is a noted literary critic in the London, said: "It's too bad that Michiko Kakutani is no longer at the New York Times as a book reviewer, she would be a good person to look at the rise of cli-fi and explain it all for us. But in the meantine, there are plenty of others out there in the book world who can explain cli-fi to readers. In fact, Alexander Kaufman recently referred to Kim Stanley Robinson as "the godfather of cli-fi." That's quite a statement. He wrote that in the Huffington Post."

Steffan Fennander-Knowles, who runs the bookstore display department for Foyles in the UK, puts it this way: "I work at Foyles here in London, and  one summer we put up a cli-fi display table, and it was an eye-catching attraction. Media reports picked up the photo and it went worldwide via social media. Waterstones in the UK also did a cli-fi display recently with very good results. So bookstores are getting into the act as well. It's good for business. It's good for books."
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Michelle Ashekanzi is the bookstore buyer for a major retail chain in Australia and she says:  "If they publish more cli-fi books and the novels get noticed, we'll order them. It all starts with the publishers and the book reviewers and the literary critics. We will see. I'm optimistic."
Jannifer Mercredit is a sci-fi novelist in South Africa, and she tells us:: "Count me in. Publish my new cli-fi novel, get me an option for a movie, and I will promote the heck out of it. I will go anywhere for my book. It's more than about my career, it's about the fate of the Earth. My novel is optimistic and full of hope, so I think people like Bill McKibben and Katharine Hayhoe will get behind it. too. Cli-fi doesn't have to be depressing and dystopian to sell well. We need positvie stories too. Margaret Atwood coined a term I like -- ''ustopia'' -- for novels that a hybrid of dystopia and utopia."
Sally Flood, am editor who works at a major British trade magazine for books says: "We're the trade magazine of the book industry here in the UK, and if we say a cli-fi novel is worth reading, readers will follow. I'm all for it. Of course, there might be others who say they are "not interested" in cli-fi, for various reasons, but  remember that in the beginning the sci-fi genre faced an uphill battle in gaining recognition. Cli-fi can rise to new heights, I am sure."
Book maven Pilita Clark way back in 2103 -- 5 years ago! --put it this way at the FT in London and said: ''The literary world already has plenty of genres, but as the Arctic melts, the planet warms and carbon dioxide levels reach their highest point in human history, a new class of fiction has been added to the list: climate fiction, or cli-fi.''
And now it's 2018. What would Pilita Clark say now? We'd love to hear from her.

Friday, August 24, 2018

A blast from the past: Amy Brady interviews Allegra Hyde in 2016 before she started the BURNING WORLDS monthly column re the rise of cli-fi : this interview took place in November 2016

[Friday, August 24, 2018]

A blast from the past: Amy Brady interviews Allegra Hyde in 2016 before she started the BURNING WORLDS monthly column re the rise of cli-fi : this interview took place in November 2016


Allegra Hyde: I’m guessing “cli-fi” is here to stay. What will be interesting to watch, however, is how this kind of fiction evolves alongside our rapidly changing world. Is climate-fiction going to become more and more darkly dystopic? Or is it going to serve as a vehicle for imagining solutions?

Saturday, August 18, 2018

Extreme temperatures ‘especially likely for next four years’ to be accompanied by a host of new cli-fi novels and movies The cyclical natural phenomena that affect our planet’s climate will amplify the effect of man-made global warming, scientists warn, as literary critics call for more cli-fi novels and movies to mirror the events that are unfolding 2018-2022

Extreme temperatures ‘especially likely for next four years’ to be accompanied by a host of new cli-fi novels and movies

The cyclical natural phenomena that affect our planet’s climate will amplify the effect of man-made global warming, scientists warn, as literary critics call for more cli-fi novels and movies to mirror the events that are unfolding 2018-2022


SEE LINK for full post:


Friday, August 17, 2018

CAN Climate Fiction aka Cli-fi Save Our Planet? YES NO MAYBE PERHAPS POSSIBLY NEVER?

Can Fiction Save Our Climate?

monkey wrench gangScientists deal in the non-fiction world most of the time. We want to ask questions, collect data, make tentative interpretations, and then test these theories. It’s the old scientific method that has worked so well for creating our modern world. But sometimes it’s too hard to explain the complex details of science and technology to everyone and debate can devolve into a matter of who do you believe.
Can fiction help us in those situations?
Charles Dicken’s prose is lauded for exposing the ugly underbelly of 19th century industrial England. Sinclair Lewis exposed the meat packing industry and the horrid conditions of labor in the United States. George Orwell showed what humans are capable of doing to their fellow humans with their demagoguery. All were and are powerful works of art that exposed our darkest moments.
In looking at the environmental literature, there are landmark non fiction pieces such as Silent Spring, The End of Nature, Collapse, and Earth in Balance. But it’s harder to select nominations for the Great American Novel that deals with climate change. The best known pieces of  Cli-Fi ..climate fiction include Flight Behavior, The Water Knife, Odds Against Tomorrow, and Oryx and Crake. But these touch on future dystopian worlds or singular elements of a warming climate.
The most classic novel that reflects the anger many  have in response to unrestrained growth is The Monkey Wrench Gang (1975) by Edward Abby. It’s about a small group of people who take into their own hands a campaign to stop the development/destruction of the canyonlands of Utah. As well written and entertaining as it may be, it has been blessed and cursed by it’s impact on decades of budding environmentalists.
Some claim it was the primer to the ecoterrorists of the 1980s and 1990s. Many of you may have forgotten but there were efforts to prevent the logging of old growth forests and the development of pristine habitats in the west. Some of these efforts were violent, most were not. Just before 9/11 President George W. Bush declared The Earth Liberation Front as  “The greatest terrorist threat in the country.” Then the towers went down and all our attention was focused on Al Qaeda.
I actually believe that Edward Abby showed most of us how futile violence is in the long run and that his book launched a whole generation of advocates that have done a whole lot more working with the system than trying vigilante efforts to stop it. There have been many places preserved in this country since those dark days back in the 1970s when Abby wrote his treatise. In fact the whole environmental movement has matured and has become part of our culture.
Our trouble today is that our population continues to grow and so does consumption, and our overuse and abuse of fossil fuels. Our everyday activities are warming our oceans and our atmosphere. We need another wake up call that all of us will heed so we can all work together to tackle this climate challenge. I would love to see another piece of fiction stimulate a whole new cadre of people to take action to slow down the warming trend that is destroying the favorable climate that we all grew up in. Stay tuned.
Let me hear from you if you have other works of literature that have inspired you to take better care of our Earth.
YES: see TC Boyle's novel A FRIEND OF THE EARTH, published in 2000.

Freelance reporter of the literary kind and climate change kind to report major SCOOP for national magazine with nice payday! RSVP ASAP SCOOP!

RE: ''publishers-and-literary-agents-applaud-the-rise-of-cli-fi-genre-novels-as-the-earth-heats-up-in-over next 40 years'' 





THREAD 3-3: freelance climate change/literary reporter wanted for literary/climate article for major publication. Let's chat email. This could be big story for YOU to write. If interested. Scoop. Reporting can be done all by email and phone . No travel needed. Interview important 6-8 people in publishing world. 1/3 

2/3 Interview 6 people in publishing world. One publisher.. one acquiring editor... one PR person for major publisher..., one bookstore sales manager ...one literary agent, ....one literary critic. One novelist,.... one professor of English....Placement of 1500 word story up to you. 1000 words okay. 800 words okay. 2500 words okay too. Your byline. Your credit. Your payday. I am just interested observer and news tipper.



3/3 circa more or less 1000-1500 word story It's a literary article about how NYC publishers are taking to cli-fi and using the term in their PR. Never reported anywhere yet. If you do it, it's a scoop for you. RSVP email me for details. / dan 

Thursday, August 16, 2018

ASU in Arizona announces the 10 winners of the 2018 ''Cli-Fi'' short story contest, with judging and comments by ''cli-fi'' novelist Kim Stanley Robinson

[August 16, 2018 A.D. ''Anno Donaldo''] ASU in Arizona announces the 10 winners of the 2018 ''Cli-Fi'' short story contest, with judging and comments by ''cli-fi'' novelist Kim Stanley Robinson

Free online anthology of winning stories coming soon!

Tuesday, August 14, 2018

Alex Steffen file part 3

''With more and more cli-fi novels and movies on tap, I cannot stop thinking about how it is now possible to mine affecting, resonant drama out of the certainty of climate change catastrophe. It's no longer science fiction. What I'm saying here is that living through the twilight of humankind is gonna be worth it for future cli-fi novels and movies.''

-- Stephen Kelly, UK culture writer in London