Cli-fi is an emerging literary genre, dedicated to imagining the consequences of a disrupted ecology. Like Speculative Fiction, it is based on what could happen if…

Two examples of Speculative Fiction, with elements of Cli-Fi, at its best:

Oryx and Crake, by Margaret Atwood

The Road, by Cormac McCarthy

The characters in these books are nuanced, and their relationships complex. The post-apocalyptic worlds they live in are believable – not just because they are richly, skillfully rendered, but because they are imagined from scenarios seeded in our world now.

If you are interested in learning more about Cli Fi, check out a recent NPR piece.

or Cli Fly Central, a blog dedicated to Cli Fi.

The apocalypse fascinates, and a well written apocalypse can turn and tune our vision.