Learn how you can save the planet with climate fiction.
The last five years have seen a boom in cli-fi, or climate fiction, mirroring our anxieties about the sixth mass extinction and a world in which extreme weather events are increasing in frequency. Through cli-fi, we can imagine the trajectories of human and other-than-human populations, devise positive futures, or compel our readers to think about our circumstances in radically different ways.
Author and researcher, Dr Jessica White, will be joined by biologist and an award-winning author, Dr Amanda Niehaus to discuss climate and eco-focused literature, drawing upon Amanda's latest cli-fi novel, The Breeding Season.
Learning Outcomes:
Through group discussions, you will develop your knowledge about the following:
A range of genres within sci-fi, including solarpunk, near-future novels and intergalactic stories.
How to use time and structure to reveal the slow pace of climate change.
How to create believable characters in unbelievable situations.
How to positively represent vulnerable populations in a changing world, such as people with disabilities.
How to include and represent the other-than-human world in ethical ways.
Format:
This is a craft workshop for all writers.
About Jessica:
Jessica is the author of A Curious Intimacy and Entitlement. Her short stories, essays and poems have appeared widely in Australian and international literary journals and she has won awards, funding and residencies. Her memoir about deafness, Hearing Maud, was published in July 2019. Her current project, 'From the Miniature to the Momentous: Georgiana Molloy, Life Writing and Environment in 1830s Western Australia' is an ecobiography that depicts the life of Western Australia botanist Georgiana Molloy (1805-1843), as well as the human and non-human lives with which she interacted.
About Amanda:
Amanda is a biologist and writer living in Brisbane. Her essays and stories have appeared in Overland, Griffith Review, Creative Nonfiction, and Best Australian Essays, among others; won the 2017 Overland-Victoria University Short Story Prize; and were twice nominated for the Pushcart Prize (USA). Her debut novel, The Breeding Season, is a story about science and art, sex and death, and female agency. It's in bookstores now.
Photo by Jacqueline Bawtree
FAQs
Are there ID or minimum age requirements to enter the event?
Unless otherwise stated, Queensland Writers Centre workshops and events are suitable for participants aged 16 years and over. If you are under 18 years of age, please check with us for suitability before purchasing a ticket.
Membership will be confirmed on arrival, in the event it isn't current, membership will need to be arranged.
What are my transport/parking options for getting to and from the event?
Information on getting to the State Library of Queensland can be found here.
What can I bring into the event?
You can bring either pen and paper or a laptop along with you to write with. If you do bring a laptop, please remember to bring a power adaptor if necessary.
Will this event be live streamed?
Queensland Writers Centre aims to provide material to its membership regardless of where they reside within Queensland by live streaming some events. Attendees may be broadcast periodically throughout the event as recording takes place. If you wish not to be filmed, let staff know prior to the event.
How can I contact the organiser with any questions?
You can contact us by phone on 07 3842 9922 or email us at admin@qldwriters.org.au
What's the refund policy?
If Queensland Writers Centre cancels an event, we will try to reschedule it for a later date. If we cannot reschedule the event, or if you are unable to attend on the amended date, your payment will be refunded in full.
Except in special circumstances, if you cancel a booking for, or are unable to attend an event, workshop, seminar, or course, Queensland Writers Centre cannot provide a refund. You can contact us to discuss your situation on 07 3842 9922 or email us at admin@qldwriters.org.au
Terms and Conditions
All information is correct at the time of publication. We reserve the right to make changes to the advertised program information (including course content and tutors), but if this occurs, we will try to provide as much notice as possible.
We expect that all participants will behave respectfully and professionally towards their tutor and fellow students. We reserve the right to remove anyone who behaves in an aggressive or disruptive manner. If a participant is asked to leave the class on this basis, we will not offer a refund.
We cannot accept responsibility for any loss, damage or expense sustained by students as a result of an event or circumstance whether arising from natural cause, human agency or beyond our control otherwise.