WRITING THE WEATHER

“Six days and seven nights came the wind and flood, the storm flattening the land.” So goes the 4,000-year-old Epic of Gilgamesh, often described as the most ancient surviving work of narrative literature. Weather, in short, has always been central to the stories we tell ourselves. But what new challenges—and opportunities—do writers face in the age of global warming? This panel looks at how writers of various genres are responding to climate change, including poet Jack B. Bedell, whose poetry frequently pays tribute to the people, landscapes, and traditions of South Louisiana; Miles Harvey, whose debut short fiction collection includes dystopian and drought-stricken settings; writer/director/playwright Mari Kornhauser, whose current projects are cli-fi speculative fiction; and journalist and nature critic Boyce Upholt, whose writing probes the relationship between humans and the natural world. The panel will be moderated by David Johnson.