Does Climate Writing Lead to Climate Action?
by Kate Woodworth
Does Climate Writing Lead to Climate Action?
Short answer: I hope so, but it may be that all of us need to focus more clearly on connecting our work to the planet’s needs.
Let’s take a quick look at the history: In the early 2010s, when climate fiction first began gaining popularity, scientific and pseudoscientific studies had already claimed that reading fiction increases empathy, influences social shifts, and helps us prepare for and accept change. But in 2020, Matthew Schneider-Mayerson, an associate professor of English at Colby College/Yale Program on Climate Change Communication, reported that reading climate fiction had only a small and transient effect on empathy and climate action.1
I wanted to point fingers at dystopian/post-apocalyptic climate fiction because those highly popular genres—in my opinion—–allow readers the comfort of believing climate catastrophe isn’t happening now and perhaps never will. Climate journalist and fiction writer Emma Pattee posits that the disconnect lies in readers’ view that fiction is an escape from reality and not a way of connecting to it more strongly.2 Perhaps more alarming is Pulitzer Prize finalist Karen Russell’s concern, quoted in Pattee’s article, that “we’ve spent so much time envisioning precisely the future we least want to inhabit that it’s come to feel inevitable.”
Despite these opinions, I wanted to prove—if only to myself—that writers really can be agents of change...but how? My solution came as a “toothbrush epiphany”—one of those great ideas that come when you’re performing a mundane task. I could invite readers of my climate novel, Little Great Island, to perform one small act or behavior change that will help mitigate climate change. Each person could choose the act that made sense in their own life. Maybe all those little acts would result in big change à la the butterfly effect, which states that small change can have a significant effect in a complex system. The butterfly effect already had a place in Little Great Island, so my epiphany seemed apt. Maybe, if enough people were inspired to Be the Butterfly* we could make a difference in the trajectory of climate change.
My publisher suggested we list a dozen climate-related non-profits at the back of Little Great Island in case anyone needed an idea for their butterfly act. We expanded that idea to involve the community of climate writers and let them decide what non-profits should be listed. When I began contacting our peers—in many cases with the help of Wren James, founder of the Climate Fiction Writers League—I received a gratifyingly positive response. Authors and their chosen non-profits are listed at the end of this article.
I’m not the first climate writer to come up with this sort of idea. Wren James, for example, did something similar, as did Jenny Offill, author of Weather, on her website. I sincerely hope I’m not the last and, in fact, I hereby invite you to steal my idea. Use my author butterflies and their non-profits or find your own (but please give my book, Little Great Island, a plug so I don’t get in trouble with my publisher).
This is my butterfly act. Now it’s your turn to Be the Butterfly, because we climate writers can make a difference. We just need to be a bit more overt about our call to action.
Kate Woodworth’s Little Great Island (Sibylline Press) has been called “an extraordinary achievement and a pure pleasure to read,” by National Book Award Winner Ha Jin, and Kirkus Reviews called it “an uplifting and grown-up novel in which two lost souls find love and purpose.” Her award-winning first novel, Racing into the Dark, was hailed by Kirkus Reviews as “vivid and honest…an impressive debut” and Publishers Weekly said it “hits the mark repeatedly with emotional truths and fluid prose.” Find more about Kate and her writing at https://katewoodworth.com.
Below are the climate authors who have chosen to participate in Be the Butterfly by suggesting the name of a non-profit that Little Great Island readers can donate to or volunteer for. Names in bold are members of the Climate Fiction Writers League.
Omar El Akkad is an author and journalist whose books have been translated into more than a dozen languages. His debut novel, American War, was listed by the BBC as one of 100 books that shapes our world.
Nonprofit: Oil Change International, https://oilchange.org
Lily Brooks-Dalton is the author of The Light Pirate, which was the runner-up for the Dayton Literary Peace Prize, a #1 Indie Next title, and a New York Times Editors’ Pick. Her previous novel, Good Morning, Midnight, was the inspiration for the film adaption The Midnight Sky, and her memoir, Motorcycles I’ve Loved, was finalist for the Oregon Book Award.
Nonprofit: Indigenous Environmental Network, https://www.ienearth.org/
Julie Carrick Dalton is the author of Waiting for the Night Song, a New Hampshire Writers Project People’s Choice award winner for best novel, and The Last Beekeeper, long listed for the Massachusetts Book Award. A former farmer, beekeeper, and journalist, she is a frequent speaker about the intersection of literature and climate science, a faculty member at Drexel University’s MFA program, and a visiting professor at Tufts University.
Nonprofit: Conservation Law Foundation, https://www.clf.org
Jane Ekstam, PhD is Professor Emerita at Halden University College, Norway. She is the author of a trilogy on climate change, Katja’s World Game.
Nonprofit: Trees for the Future (sub-Saharan Africa); 350.org (USA), https://trees.org; https://350.org/?r=US&c=NA
Nick Fuller Googins is the author of the novels The Great Transition (2023) and The Frequency of Living Things (2025). He lives in Maine and works as an elementary school teacher.
Nonprofit: The Half Earth Project, https://eowilsonfoundation.org/what-is-the-half-earth-project/
Peter Heller is the bestselling author of The Dog Stars, The River, and Burn, among other novels. He lives in Colorado.
Nonprofit: American Rivers, https://www.americanrivers.org
Wren James is the Carnegie-longlisted British author of many young adult novels (writing as Lauren James), including The Loneliest Girl in the Universe, which Amazon MGM Studios is developing as a feature film. They founded the Climate Fiction Writers League, edited the anthology Future Hopes: Hopeful stories in a time of climate change, and work as a consultant on climate storytelling for museums, production companies, and major brands and publishers, with a focus on optimism and hope.
Nonprofit: The Pelorus Foundation, https://pelorusfoundation.org
Barbara Kingsolver is a Pulitzer Prize-winning author of fiction, nonfiction, and poetry. She is a trained biologist and lives on a sustainable farm in southwest Virginia.
Nonprofit: Earth Justice, https://earthjustice.org
Bill McKibben wrote what’s generally regarded as the first book for the general public on climate change (The End of Nature, 1989) and has gone on to found the global grassroots climate campaign 350.org and Third Act, which organizes people over the age of 60 for action on climate and democracy.
Nonprofit: Third Act, https://thirdact.org
Lydia Millet has written more than a dozen novels and short story collections, including A Children’s Bible – shortlisted for the National Book Award – and Love in Infant Monkeys, a finalist for the Pulitzer Prize. She also writes essays, opinion pieces, and book reviews and is the author of a new nonfiction book called We Loved It All: A Memory of Life.
Nonprofit: The Center for Biological Diversity, https://www.biologicaldiversity.org
Cate Mingoya-LaFortune is a trained biologist, teacher, and climate adaption planner and is the author of Climate Action for Busy People – a how to guide on intervening locally in the climate crisis.
Nonprofit: Groundwork USA, GroundworkUSA.org, https://groundworkusa.org
Pitchaya Sudbanthad is the author of Bangkok Wakes to Rain, a New York Times and Washington Post Book of the year.
Nonprofit: Climate Action Network International, https://climatenetwork.org
*Be the Butterfly is an environmental initiative coordinated by Kate Woodworth, author of Little Great Island, published by Sibylline Press.
Environmental Literature as Persuasion: An Experimental Test of the Effects of Reading Climate Fiction Matthew Schneider-Mayerson, Abel Gustafson, Anthony Leiserowitz, Matthew H. Goldberg, Seth A. Rosenthal, Matthew Ballew, pp 35-50. https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/abs/10.1080/17524032.2020.1814377#
Pattee, Emma, On the False Promise of Climate Fiction, November 14, 2023. https://lithub.com/on-the-false-promise-of-climate-fiction/
Writing for Sustainability event “Planting Words”: Sustainability Centre, Droxford, Hants. 22nd July 2025
Green Stories and Pens of the Earth are collaborating with the Sustainability Centre to provide a “Local Sustainability Writer” event on 22nd July. It will be a mixture of performance, talks and workshops with an inexpensive day-long entry-ticket. It takes place in a beautiful setting in the glorious South Downs. Book your place here.
Dear Kate, you ask an important question ... what we know for sure is that we humans are emotional beings (not the rational decision makers we would like to believe). Our behavior is largely shaped by the stories we absorb growing up in a particular culture. Most of the world is currently acting out of stories that say we need "more", that our economies must grow forever, and that we humans are separate from nature. Replacing these outmoded and destructive stories with better stories, stories that support a sustainable, desirable future is best done with fiction. The academic papers of the scientists are not very effective at changing hearts and minds. Changing hearts and minds takes the work of artists ... and fiction writers are perhaps the most critical of them all in this respect.
My research shows that raising awareness isn't enough, we need to show solutions. Just raising awareness of the problem can even on occasion trigger the wrong kind of action - see my post https://climatefictionwritersleague.substack.com/p/why-i-dont-like-climate-fiction?utm_source=substack&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=email-restack-comment&r=2v2xv7&triedRedirect=true. Your book certainly seems to focus on solution-oriented activity. I've downloaded the audio book and look forward to listening to it. Again my research shows this can be very effective. I had way more impact with my rom com Habitat Man than I did with any of my academic articles - see https://www.dabaden.com/habitat-man-in-research/. I love your idea of actions - do you have a way to check if it's made a difference. I'd love to know if so. My non profit would be Client Earth.