Luis Alberto Urrea on “Chicago Tonight”
New anthology of "climate fiction" imagines world in 2040 if climate change is not addressed.
Professor of English Luis Alberto Urrea was on WTTW-TV's "Chicago Tonight" this week to discuss the new anthology of climate fiction 2040 A.D. (published by McSweeney's Quarterly Concern in collaboration with the National Resources Defense Council). Urrea was joined by Rob Moore, NRDC director of the Water and Climate Team.
2040 A.D. features short stories imagining a world where we have done nothing about climate change. In addition to Urrea's contribution, "The Night Drinker"--"the only straight-up horror story in the book," according to Urrea--the collection features original fiction by Tommy Orange, Claire G. Coleman, Birna Anna Björnsdóttir, Elif Shafak, Abbey Mei Otis, Asja Bakić, Rachel Heng, Kanishk Tharoor, and Mikael Awake.
Each writer was paired with a scientific expert from the NRDC to provide "research and support," according to Moore. In "The Night Drinker," erosion in Mexico City takes a series of horrifying turns in a world wracked by "deprivation and delusion" and more reliant on superstition than reason.
Watch the full clip on WTTW-TV's website.