Remember in 7 Pumpkin Spice Short Stories when we said, “we’re ignoring the whole thing with it still being like 20 degrees most days in the UK and that whole climate changey terrifying thing that’s going on”?
Welllll we decided to engage with it a bit more so this month’s stories are all about climate change. Don’t panic though, they’re all broadly positive, or at least uplifting about the human condition. Sort of. I mean look, this is fiction, we can’t go around lying about stuff left, right and centre.
Anyhoo, here’s seven great climate change short stories to see you through November.
1. Boys of Summer, by Jennifer R. Donohue (Corvid Queen)
A dreamy world where climate survivors are picked by fairies watching baseball matches between children. A pained cry about our attempt to maintain normalcy and humanity and the wish for a simple route out this madness
Find Jennifer R. Donohue at
Twitter @AuthorizedMusin
Bluesky @authorizedmustings.bsky.social
2. They Were The Years Of Fat Water, by Myna Chang (Cheap Pop Lit)
Dust Bowl inspired reminiscing about a pre climate change world when water was abundant
Find Myna Chang at
Twitter @MynaChang
Bluesky @mynachang.bsky.social
3. Adrift, by Kim Steutterman Rogers (Fractured Lit)
Three women lash their houses together to see out yet another flood. Melancholy but beautiful.
Find Kim Steutterman Rogers at
Twitter @kimsrogers
Bluesky @kimsrogers.bsky.social
4. Waters Are Rising, by Anita Goveas (Parenthesis Journal)
A chilling flash about the spectacle of nature and how human awe quickly turns to fear when we realise the danger and power that resides in the Earth
Find Anita Goveas at
Twitter @coffeeandpaneer
Bluesky @coffeeandpaneer.bsky.social
5. The Flavours We’ll Lose, by Brecht De Poortere (Reflex Press)
A mother cooks a cake for her child using the only ingredients that can be found in a speculative, parched world
Find Brecht De Poortere at
Twitter @brecht_dp
Bluesky @brechtdp.bsky.social
6. Oceans Under Threat Like Never Before, by Melissa Llanes Brownlee (Cheap Pop Lit)
Powerful flash about reclaiming stolen land only to have it taken again by the elements
Find Melissa Llanes Brownlee at
Twitter @Lumchanmfa
Bluesky @lumchanmfa.bsky.social
7. From Our Bones Will Blossom Coral Reef Kingdoms, by Timothy Boudreau (Trampset)
Humans humaning humanly during a natural disaster
Find Timothy Boudreau at
Twitter @tcboudreau
Bluesky @tcboudreau.bsky.social
(A longer version of this list first appeared on Fictional Sarah on 31 August 2023)
