Margaret Atwood, Prophet?

Ed Finn
Slate – Future Tense

What might a world without oil look like? How will human societies cope with massive changes in the Earth’s climate? How will we adapt to survive the future? And how can storytelling and art — alongside science and technology — help us confront the challenge of climate change?

In November 2014, award-winning author Margaret Atwood visited Arizona State University as part of the Imagination and Climate Futures Initiative. In this interview, she discusses topics ranging from climate change and storytelling to the nature of hope and how she conducts scientific research for her books.

In November 2014, award-winning author Margaret Atwood visited Arizona State University as part of the Imagination and Climate Futures Initiative. In this interview, she discusses topics ranging from climate change and storytelling to the nature of hope and how she conducts scientific research for her books.

In November 2014, award-winning author Margaret Atwood visited Arizona State University as part of the Imagination and Climate Futures Initiative. In this interview, she discusses topics ranging from climate change and storytelling to the nature of hope and how she conducts scientific research for her books.

In November 2014, award-winning author Margaret Atwood visited Arizona State University as part of the Imagination and Climate Futures Initiative. In this interview, she discusses topics ranging from climate change and storytelling to the nature of hope and how she conducts scientific research for her books.

Climate fiction, or “cli fi,” can be a dreary genre. Storytellers like to make a grim business of climate change, populating their narratives with a humorless onslaught of death, destruction, drowned monuments, and starving children. Margaret Atwood is the conspicuous exception, somehow managing to tackle the subject, including these familiar elements, with deadpan wit and an irreverent playfulness, making it both more interesting and believable. The flood is coming, her MaddAddam trilogy promises, but there is hope.

This article originally appeared in ASU News. Internationally renowned novelist and environmental activist Margaret Atwood will visit Arizona State University this November to discuss the relationship between art and science,