In her brilliantly conceived and eloquent new linked story collection, , Nina Schuyler offers us a “loud and bright and unrelenting” chorus of voices calling us to rise above despair and indifference and join together to revive the natural world at a time when the earth is in crisis. Each story offers distinctive characters, intimate moments, and surprises; interlaced within the framework of Nature’s own narrative, the collection, which won the W.S.
Porter Prize for Short Story Collections and The Prism Prize for Climate Literature, offers an urgent plea for action. What inspired ? “Several of my friends are scientists specializing in ecology and biology, and many times, they’ve said to me that information isn’t working; the despairing news about species extinction and rising temperatures and sea levels is not changing human behavior,” Schuyler explains. “We need stories.
We need stories that move people to vote for politicians who will do something about the climate crisis; that motivate people to join an environmental organization and act. Storytelling was something I could try to do. I guess I also felt responsible for the earth—it’s given me so much, so much beauty and the perfect conditions for life.
” Our exchange took place during a week when our shared state of California was ravaged by a wildfire season, arriving early, driven by vicious winds. * How did your life and work, including your writing of this new book, change during the recent years o.
