Author experiences of researching, writing and marketing climate fiction

Abstract

There is a growing body of literature that studies the emotional impact of engaging regularly with climate change in a professional capacity, with a particular focus on climate scientists and activists. However, the experience of climate fiction writers is yet to be investigated, despite the many years such writers must spend deeply focusing on the issue. This project fills this gap by interviewing 16 Australian and New Zealand writers of climate fiction, focusing on how the different stages of the publishing cycle – research, writing and marketing – affected their wellbeing. While there was a diversity of experiences, we have identified a number of trends. Despite some confronting moments, the research and writing phases represented a positive experience, with writers gaining a sense of control and purpose in the face of the immense climate change problem. For many writers, though, the post-publication phase produced more difficult emotions, including feelings of guilt over inaction in the face of the crisis, frustration at reader responses, and the pressure of being construed as climate change experts in interviews and at festival events.