In July 2017, I interviewed author Ashley Shelby for this column... This year Shelby has published another work of cli-fi... A ship captain and his team have been tasked with a globe-crossing adventure: relocate the last of the Arctic’s polar bears to Antarctica... As the story unfolds, Shelby delves into the ethics of species relocation and the psychological strain of living in an age of climate change. In this interview I spoke with the author about what inspired Muri..
Ashley Shelby: Most of my work right now is set in a climate-changed future – though the boundary between now and a climate-changed future seems to be disappearing, doesn’t it?... So, I decided to play the literal against the figurative and see where the chips fell.
Amy Brady: Without giving too much away, I’ll say that this story gives agency to polar bears in unique and surprising ways. How important is it that contemporary writers consider the lives – and to the extent possible, the inner lives – of non-humans in their work?
Ashley Shelby: Two of my favorite books growing up – which I re-read countless times – were Watership Down and The Incredible Journey, both of which... were transformational in terms of understanding that there is little to nothing that separates our experience of our world from an animal’s experience of the world it shares with us... a sci-fi or fantasy fan might say, “Talking polar bears? Tell me more.”
via Gfycat
... every time I try to explain my novel. ..it spontaneously combusts in retaliation and I have to try to sweep up the shards and start over. So, I will discuss its weird mix of themes and leave it at that: climate-impacted cities, mental health, pharmaceuticals, birds, and carbon felons.
via Gfycat
... every time I try to explain my novel. ..it spontaneously combusts in retaliation and I have to try to sweep up the shards and start over. So, I will discuss its weird mix of themes and leave it at that: climate-impacted cities, mental health, pharmaceuticals, birds, and carbon felons.
