With an eclectic mix of backgrounds, from theatre directors, novelists and academics, the panel touched on a range of issues including the psychology of using fear as a method of engagement and the difficulty of covering the immense scale of climate change in the traditional novel structure. It was this sense of collective responsibility that inspired the live streamed event in which Dr Stuart Capstick, Ben Rawlence, Liz Jensen and Kay Michael came together for Wales Climate Week 2020 to explore the role of storytellers in engaging and acting for the climate crisis. Regardless of occupation, whether you are a scientist, politician, care-giver or artist, those who are engaged in the climate crisis are being tasked with considering what their role is in society and how they can use their skills to tackle our biggest global challenge yet. What he was describing is the fundamental predicament we are beginning to find ourselves in as the climate crisis emerges and becomes a more clear and present threat. When promoting his 2017 novel American War, Omar El Akkad predicted that ‘the term climate change fiction as a descriptor of genre, will eventually fall out of use-much the same way we don’t tend to use the phrases of love fiction or loss fiction to describe stories about foundational component of the human experience’. As part of Wales Climate Week 2020, creatives and academics came together via zoom to discuss ‘the role of storytellers in shaping the narrative and communal imagination towards action and engagement with the climate crisis?’ In this article Holly McElroy explores the issues covered in the conference and interviews panellist Liz Jensen, author and founder of Extinction Rebellion Writers Rebel.

The Rapture by Liz Jensen