Endorsements

Janisse Ray

“We know books are transformational, uniquely capable of changing hearts and minds. Therefore, I think of book clubs are mycelia, meaning underground networks that exchange nourishment and other support. In thousands of conversations that take place in homes and community centers, important ideas root and grow. This seems to me to be the natural antidote to propaganda and the disinformation campaigns of mass media, and this plan—for every book group everywhere to consider the climate crisis in their reading material—floods me with excitement and hope.”

Janisse Ray is an American writer who explores the borderland of nature and culture.  Ray has been writing about and protesting the climate crisis for two decades. In 2009 she made a personal decision to stop flying as an act of resistance. She has won an American Book Award, Pushcart Prize, Southern Bookseller Award, Southern Environmental Law Center Writing Award, Nautilus Award, and Eisenberg Award, among many others. Her bestselling first book, ECOLOGY OF A CRACKER CHILDHOOD, was a NEW YORK TIMES Notable. Her latest collection of essays, WILD SPECTACLE, won the Donald L. Jordan Prize for Literary Excellence, which carries a $10,000 prize. Ray serves on the editorial board of terrain.org and is an honorary member of the Association for the Study of Literature and the Environment. She earned an MFA from the University of Montana, has received two honorary doctorates, and has been inducted into the Georgia Writers Hall of Fame. Ray lives and works inland from Savannah, Georgia, in the coastal plains of the southeastern U.S.

Joanne Stubbs

“I love this idea to set a challenge to read one climate change novel or story during 2023. There are some amazing books out there – having a recommendations list makes choosing one that bit easier. I’ll be adding some of these books to my reading list! And I’m really pleased to see The Fish in such good company.”

Joanne Stubbs lives and works in the Bristol area. After growing up in Staffordshire, she studied biochemistry at Wadham College, Oxford. She has since worked in a variety of roles in science communication and engagement. Joanne holds an MA in creative writing from Bath Spa University. The Fish is her debut novel.

Pitchaya Sudbanthad

“Before action, there is attention, and that attention often needs imagination to energize it. Good books act as loci of attention and imagination against denial and despair as we witness more effects of climate change caused by fossil fuels and unsustainable global economics. Reading together is part of how we can make a better future together. Book clubs like this and every individual reader become our torchbearers toward actions we must collectively take if there is to be hope for us and many species on this great Earth.”

Pitchaya Sudbanthad is the author of the novel Bangkok Wakes to Rain, selected as a notable book of the year by The New York Times and The Washington Post, as well as finalist for the Center for Fiction’s First Novel Prize. He has received fellowships in fiction writing from Civitella Ranieri, MacDowell, and the New York Foundation for the Arts, and currently splits time between Bangkok and Brooklyn.