21st Century Cli-Fi
Ends on December 15, 2018
Organizer: Teresa Goddu ( teresa.a.goddu@vanderbilt.edu ), Vanderbilt University
Planned Format: Roundtable (5-6 Presenters)
Cli-Fi is a rapidly emerging genre within contemporary literature and film that addresses urgent environmental questions and concerns through the imaginative lens of fiction. Coined as “cli-fi” by literary activist Dan Bloom and accepted now as a buzzword in the popular press, it has recently become the focus of academic scholarship as well as college courses. The Chicago Review of Books has a monthly ''cli-fi trends'' column by literary critic Amy Brady dedicated to highlighting recent publications in the genre; Goodreads has a list devoted to cli-fi; and Twitter has a lively feed via the hashtag #clifi.
This roundtable seeks to bring together writers, readers, and teachers working in 21st century cli-fi to map this growing field and articulate its role within the broader climate conversation.
The roundtable seeks to address two key questions:
what is climate fiction?
and what are its uses?
Each participant will propose a single 21st century fictional text through which to offer a definition of cli-fi, illuminate the field’s broader contours, and highlight its central questions and stakes.
Texts can be established or unexpected but should signal a significant issue within the field or represent an identifiable node in its larger network.
Remarks should be brief (5-8 minutes). Topics participants might address:
what are 21st century cli-fi novels' key themes or motifs?
its formal features or generic affiliations?
its central methods, meanings, or motives? what role should cli-fi play within academic, activist, or popular discourses of climate change?
The roundtable as a whole seeks to provoke lively debate both among its participants and with the audience as we work together to chart the field and identify its important trajectories.
Planned Format: Roundtable (5-6 Presenters)
Cli-Fi is a rapidly emerging genre within contemporary literature and film that addresses urgent environmental questions and concerns through the imaginative lens of fiction. Coined as “cli-fi” by literary activist Dan Bloom and accepted now as a buzzword in the popular press, it has recently become the focus of academic scholarship as well as college courses. The Chicago Review of Books has a monthly ''cli-fi trends'' column by literary critic Amy Brady dedicated to highlighting recent publications in the genre; Goodreads has a list devoted to cli-fi; and Twitter has a lively feed via the hashtag #clifi.
This roundtable seeks to bring together writers, readers, and teachers working in 21st century cli-fi to map this growing field and articulate its role within the broader climate conversation.
The roundtable seeks to address two key questions:
what is climate fiction?
and what are its uses?
Each participant will propose a single 21st century fictional text through which to offer a definition of cli-fi, illuminate the field’s broader contours, and highlight its central questions and stakes.
Texts can be established or unexpected but should signal a significant issue within the field or represent an identifiable node in its larger network.
Remarks should be brief (5-8 minutes). Topics participants might address:
what are 21st century cli-fi novels' key themes or motifs?
its formal features or generic affiliations?
its central methods, meanings, or motives? what role should cli-fi play within academic, activist, or popular discourses of climate change?
The roundtable as a whole seeks to provoke lively debate both among its participants and with the audience as we work together to chart the field and identify its important trajectories.
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