LAX LAB 2.0 | school of climate fiction
LAX LAB 2.0 is a community, book club, and educational resource dedicated to the stories and worlds of climate fiction.
LIVING LIBRARY OF CLIMATE FICTION
The LAX LAB 2.0 library is your go-to resource for all things written on, about, or in the genre of climate fiction. Here you will find the following resources:
Essays and popular science articles
Book reviews and author profiles
Academic articles
Non-fiction on climate fiction
Non-fiction on hope
Memoirs and literary non-fiction
Novels
Young adult novels
Short-story collections
Poetry
Plays
Graphic novels and comics
Children’s literature
Websites
Lists
This library is perpetually being built by the LAX LAB 2.0 climate fiction community — this constant growth and evolution is why it is referred to as a “living library”. If you notice anything missing, please send a message with your suggestions or leave a comment in the library thread on Substack.
The goal of the library is to be inclusive and collect many different examples of climate fiction writing — just because something is included here does not mean that it is necessarily endorsed or recommended by the LAX LAB 2.0 community.
With time, a detailed legend will be added to the library to indicate writings that LAX LAB 2.0 recommends. For now: the symbol ▲ is used to indicate works read in the book club, ♥ denotes particularly well-loved books read together, ★ indicates works suggested by community, and ☁ is used to identify works written by authors in the LAX LAB 2.0 community.
Essays and popular science articles
Stories to save the world: the new wave of climate fiction by Claire Armitstead, The Guardian (2021)
Why all fiction is climate fiction now: When art intersects with unavoidable reality by Nishant Batsha, LitHub (2022)
Theatre in the age of the climate change: The intimacy of the climate crisis by Chantal Bilodeau, HowlRound (2023)
Climate Fiction: A Special Issue by Amy Brady, Guernica (2019)
How fiction can persuade readers that climate change is real by Anna Colivicchi, euronews (2020)
Climate fiction shifts readers’ beliefs—but not for long by Sarah DeWeerdt, Anthropocene (2020)
September 22, 2020As the climate changes, so does fiction: Planetary warming is no longer the sole province of “climate fiction.” It’s creeping into all kinds of writing by Heather Hansman, The Atlantic (2022)
‘Cli-fi’ might not save the world, but writing it could help with your eco-anxiety by Rachel Hennessy, Alex Cothren, Amy T Matthews, The Conversation (2021)
What “climate fiction” does by Lindsay Lerman, The Philosophical Salon (2020)
This course uses ‘climate fiction’ to teach about the perils that a warming planet faces, by Debra J. Rosenthal, The Conversation (2023)
Can Science Fiction Wake Us Up to Our Climate Reality?: Kim Stanley Robinson’s novels envision the dire problems of the future—but also their solutions by Joshua Rothman, The New Yorker (2022)
A look at the growing genre of climate fiction by Scientific American (2013)
Climate fiction: Can books save the planet?: A new literary genre that focuses on the consequences of environmental issues is striking a chord with younger generations—and engaging them in thinking about the Earth’s sustainability by J.K. Ullrich, The Atlantic (2015)
Climate fiction won't save us: As the world burns, readers increasingly look to climate fiction for hope, predictions, and actionable solutions. But can the genre really be a manual for useful change? by Jeff VanderMeer, Esquire (2023)
Opinion: One surprising source of hope for climate change? Fiction by Daniel Vitale, LA Times (2023)
The summer that reality caught up to climate fiction: "My novel is going to be coming true for the rest of my life." by Kate Yoder, Grist (2023)
Book reviews and author profiles
How Octavia Butler told the future: We need her conception of “histofuturism” now more than ever by Tiya Miles, The Atlantic (2024)
Academic articles and book chapters
Climate fiction, climate theory: Decolonising imaginations of global futures by Carl Death, Millennium, 50(2), 430-455 (2022)
Sunken cities: Climate change, urban futures and the imagination of submergence, by Paul Dobraszczyk, International Journal of Urban Research (2017)
Climate fiction in English by Caren Irr, Oxford Research Encyclopedia of Literature (2017)
Climate fiction is a vital tool for producing better planetary futures by Imogen Malpas, The Lancet (2021)
Imagination, storytelling, and the politics of the future by Manjana Milkoreit, in book Reimagining Climate Change, Routledge (2016)
Climate fiction: A world-systems approach by Andrew Milner and J.R. Burgmann, Cultural Sociology, 12(1), 22-36 (2018)
Environmental literature as persuasion: An experimental test of the effects of reading climate fiction by Matthew Schneider-Mayerson, Abel Gustafson, Anthony Leiserowitz, Matthew H. Goldberg, Seth A. Rosenthal, and Matthew Ballew, Environmental Communication, 17(1), 35–50 (2023)
Whose odds? The absence of climate justice in American climate fiction novels by Matthew Schneider-Mayerson ISLE: Interdisciplinary Studies in Literature and Environment, 26(4), 944–967 (2019)
The influence of climate fiction: An empirical survey of readers by Matthew Schneider-Mayerson, Environmental Humanities, 10 (2): 473–500 (2018)
Once upon a time in the anthropocene: myths, legends, and futurity in Turkish climate fiction by Merve Tabur, Middle Eastern Literatures (2023)
Non-fiction on climate fiction
Please note that the non-fiction books included here are books written about the topic of climate fiction, and not non-fiction written about climate change. There are far too many excellent non-fiction books about climate change to be included here.
Climate Fiction and Cultural Analysis: A New Perspective on Life in the Anthropocene by Gregers Andersen (2021)
The Nutmeg's Curse: Parables for a Planet in Crisis by Amitav Ghosh (2021)
The Great Derangement: Climate Change and the Unthinkable by Amitav Ghosh (2017)
Staging the End of the World: Theatre in a Time of Climate Crisis by Brian Kulick (2023)
Earth Matters on Stage: Ecology and Environment in American Theater by Theresa J. May (2020)
Non-fiction on hope
These books are not necessarily related to climate fiction, but pertain to hope and optimism, which relates to the mission of LAX LAB 2.0.
Teaching at Twilight: The Meaning of Education in the Age of Collapse by Ahmed Afzaal (2023)
Climate Optimism: Celebrating Systemic Change Around the World by Zahra Biabani with foreword by Christiana Figueres (2023)
I Want a Better Catastrophe: Navigating the Climate Crisis with Grief, Hope, and Gallows Humor by Andrew Boyd (2023)
We Are the Weather: Saving the Planet Begins at Breakfast by Jonathan Safran Foer (2020)
Saving Us: A Climate Scientist's Case for Hope and Healing in a Divided World by Katharine Hayhoe (2021)
Moral Gravity: Staying Together at the End of the World by David W. Hill (2022)
It's Not That Radical: Climate Action to Transform Our World by Mikaela Loach (2023)
Not Too Late: Changing the Climate Story from Despair to Possibility, Edited by Thelma Young Lutunatabua and Rebecca Solnit (2023)
Dreamland: A Self-Help Manual to a Frightened Nation by Andri Snaer Magnason, translated by Lytton Smith (2022)
All We Can Save: Truth, Courage, and Solutions for the Climate Crisis, Edited by Katharine K. Wilkinson and Ayana Elizabeth Johnson (2021) ★
Memoirs and literary non-fiction
Everything That Rises: A Climate Change Memoir by Brianna Craft (2023)
Soil: The Story of a Black Mother's Garden by Camille T. Dungy (2023)
Your Wild and Precious Life: On Grief, Hope, and Rebellion by Liz Jensen ★
On Time and Water by Andri Snær Magnason, translated by Lytton Smith (2021)
Lessons for Survival: Mothering Against "The Apocalypse" by Emily Raboteau (2024)
Its not Just You: How to Navigate Eco-Anxiety and the Climate Crisis by Tori Tsui (2024)
Fire Weather: A True Story from a Hotter World by John Vaillant (2023)
Novels
The MaddAddam Trilogy: Oryx & Crake, The Year of the Flood, and MaddAddam by Margaret Atwood (2014)
Oryx & Crake by Margaret Atwood (2004)
The Year of the Flood by Margaret Atwood (2010)
MaddAddam by Margaret Atwood (2014)
Mother Ocean Father Nation by Nishant Batsha (2023)
Parable of the Sower by Octavia E. Butler (1993) — AFROFUTURISM ▲ ♥
Parable of the Talents by Octavia E. Butler (1998) — AFROFUTURISM
Waiting for the Night Song by Julie Carrick Dalton (2022) ☁
The Last Beekeeper by Julie Carrick Dalton (202s) ☁
Scary Monsters: A Novel in Two Parts by Michelle de Kretser (2022) ▲
Gun Island by Amitav Ghosh ▲
Oil on Water by Helon Habila (2011) — AFRICAN LITERATURE, PETROFICTIONS ▲
The End of the Ocean by Maja Lunde (2021) — TRANSLATED FROM NORWEGIAN BY DIANE OATLEY ▲
Severance by Ling Ma (2019) — ASIAN-AMERICAN LITERATURE ▲
Station Eleven: A Novel by Emily St John Mandel (2015)
How High We Go in the Dark by Sequoia Nagamatsu (2023)
The Terraformers by Analee Newitz (2023)
Weather by Jenny Offill (2020) ▲ ♥
Dreamland by Rosa Rankin-Gee (2022) ▲
Denial by Jon Raymond (2023) ▲
Moon of the Crusted Snow by Waubgeshig Rice (2018) — TURTLE ISLAND/CANADA, INDIGENOUS FICTION ▲ ♥
Moon of the Turning Leaves by Waubgeshig Rice (2023) — TURTLE ISLAND/CANADA, INDIGENOUS FICTION
The Ministry for the Future by Kim Stanley Robinson (2020)
Green Earth by Kim Stanley Robinson (2015)
Three Californias: The Wild Shore, the Gold Coast, and Pacific Edge (2020) by Kim Stanley Robinson
Scattered All Over the Earth by Yoko Tawada (2022) — TRANSLATED FROM THE JAPANESE BY MARGARET MITSUTANI ▲
Some Desperate Glory by Emily Tesh (2023)
Annihilation by Jeff VanderMeer (2014) ▲
Young adult novels
Tin Boy by Steve Cole, illustrated by Oriol Vidal (2019)
Marrow Thieves by Cherie Dimaline (2017) — TURTLE ISLAND/CANADA, INDIGENOUS FICTION
Green Rising by Lauren James (2021)
The Carbon Diaries 2015 by Saci Lloyd (2008)
Daylight Come by Diana McCaulay (202) — JAMAICA, CARIBBEAN FICTION
War Girls by Tochi Onyebuchi (2019) — NIGERIA, AFROFUTURISM
Short story collections
Wastelands: Stories of the Apocalypse, Edited by John Joseph Adams (2008)
Palestine +100: Stories from a Century After the Nakba, Edited by Basma Ghalayini with contributions by Mazen Maarouf and Selma Dabbagh (2022)
Afterglow: Climate Fiction for Future Ancestors, Edited by Grist (2023)
Metamorphosis: Climate Fiction for a Better Future, Edited by Grist (2024)
No More Fairy Tales: Stories to Save our Planet, Edited by Kim Stanley Robinson, Paolo Bacigalupi, Sara Foster (Author) (2022)
Poetry
Collections
Black Nature: Four Centuries of African American Nature Poetry, Edited by Camille T. Dungy (2009)
With Love, Grief and Fury by Salena Godden (2024)
Pessimism is for Lightweights by Salena Godden (2023)
IEP Jaltok: Poems from a Marshallese Daughter by Kathy Jetnil-Kijiner (2017)
Love in the Time of Climate Change: A Book of Poems by Jenny Justice (2019)
Poems
Darkness by Lord Byron
Plays
Ugly by Emma Adams (2010) — UNITED KINGDOM
Earthquakes in London by Mike Bartlett (2011)
Lighting the Way: An Anthology of Short Plays About the Climate Crisis, Edited by Chantal Bilodeau and Thomas Peterson (2020) — INTERNATIONAL
The Future Is Not Fixed: Short Plays Envisioning a Global Green New Deal, Compiled by Chantal Bilodeau (2022) — INTERNATIONAL
No More Harveys by Chantal Bilodeau (2023) — CANADA
Forward by Chantal Bilodeau, with foreword by Una Chaudhuri and introduction by Tael Naess (2017) — CANADA
Sila: The First Play in the Arctic Cycle by Chantal Bilodeau, with introduction by Megan Sandberg-Zakian (2015) — CANADA
When the Rain Stops Falling by Andrew Bovell (2010)
Greenland by Moira Buffini, Matt Charman, Penelope Skinner, and Jack Thorne (2011)
(Not) the End of the World by Chris Bush (2024)
A Cool Dip in the Barren Saharan Crick by Kia Corthron (2010) — UNITED STATES
When This is Over: A Blueprint for Creating Your Own Production, and the Original Playscript by Ned Glasier, Sadeysa Greenaway-Bailey, Company Three (2024)
Rafts and Dreams & Outside the Whale by Robert Holman (2006) — UNITED KINGDOM
Yellowfin by Marek Horn (2022)
Start Swimming by James Fritz (2017)
The Trials by Dawn King (2023)
Tinderbox by Lucy Kirkwood (2008) — UNITED KINGDOM
Lungs by Duncan MacMillan (2021)
2071 by Duncan MacMillan (2022)
Heavy Weather by Lizzie Nunnery (2021)
A Play for the Living in a Time of Extinction by Miranda Rose Hall (Author)
Is My Microphone On? by Jordan Tannahill (2023) ★
The Contingency Plan: Two Plays (On the Beach & Resilliance) by Steve Waters (2023)
Grasses of a Thousand Colors by Wallace Shawn (2014)
Graphic novels and comics
Ducks: Two Years in the Oil Sands by Kate Beaton (2022)
V for Vendetta by Alan Moore, illustrated by David Lloyd (2020)
Climate Changed: A Personal Journey through the Science by Philippe Squarzoni (2014
Eve by Una (2023)
Children's literature
The Infinite by Patience Agbabi (2020)
The Crackledawn Dragon by Abi Elphinstone (2021)
Melt by Ele Fountain (2021)
The Last Bear by Hannah Gold, illustrated by Levi Pinfold (2022)
Finding Bear by Hanna Gold, illustrated by Levi Pinfold (2024)
The Search for the Giant Arctic Jellyfish by Chloe Savage (2023)
Tsunami Girl written byJulian Sedgwick, illustrated by Chie Kutsuwada (2021)
The Lorax by Dr. Seuss (1971)
Bloom: The Surprising Seeds of Sorrel Fallowfield by Nicola Skinner, illustrated by Flavia Sorrentino (2020)
Harklights by Tim Tilley (2021)
The Wild Before by Piers Torday (2022)
Lists
These lists may be helpful if you are new to climate fiction and don’t know where to start.
Read the World: 8 New Environmental Books in Translation — Diversify your reading list with critically acclaimed new releases by Allison Braden, Sierra (2022)
-Fi: Climate Change Fiction, goodreads
The definitive climate fiction reading list: These 20 wildly imaginative books will shape the way you think about our planet’s future — and humanity’s place in it, Grist: Fix Solutions Lab (2021)
A Guide to Cli-Fi: 9 Essential Works by Emmanuel Hidalgo-Wohlleben, Tertulia (2023)
Compelling Climate Fiction To Read Before It Becomes Nonfiction, New York Public Library (2023)
Essential climate fiction books to read right now: Your cli-fi reading list — the best fiction books about climate change and the climate crisis, Pan Macmillan (2024)
30 of the best dystopian novels of all time: From classic authors such as George Orwell and H. G. Wells to contemporary fiction, these are the best dystopian novels of all time by Stella Moore, Pan Macmillan (2024)
The ReadDown: Climate Fiction To Start Reading, Penguin Random House
10 fiction books worth reading that imagine what climate change could look like by Paola Rosa-Aquino, Business Insider (2023)
Climate Fiction, Simon & Schuster
Happy Endings For Climate Change? My Top 14 Anti-Fatalism Novels by Solitaire Townsend, Forbes (2022)
VPL Picks: Climate Fiction, Vancouver Public Library
Please cite LAX LAB 2.0 if you are using and engaging with this material as a researcher. If you are an educator with a research budget and are using this as a source in your work, please consider supporting LAX LAB 2.0 by making a financial contribution.
Affiliate marketing links may be used on this page. If books are purchased through the North American website Bookshop.org or through the British UK.Bookshop.org, LAX LAB 2.0 may receive a small commission at no cost to you. Bookshop.org supports independent book stores. LAX LAB 2.0 does not participate in affiliate marketing with Amazon.com for ethical reasons.