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Ecowriting for Sustainable Futures: Getting Started with Climate Fiction (Cli-Fi) Writing
By Rebecca Woodard, Kate Sjostrom, Kristine Wilber, Andrea Vaughan, Jen Vincent, and the Chicago Area Writing Project Cli-Fi Collective, with Kristine M. Schutz
Document: Column
Introductory Paragraph: The National Writing Project (NWP) is a nationwide network of teachers, university faculty, researchers, writers, and community educators working to advance writing and the teaching of writing. For the past year, a local branch of the NWP called the Chicago Area Writing Project (CAWP) engaged a group of 15 K-16 educators in reading and writing hopeful cli-fi short stories. Cli-fi explores how climate change is already and will continue to reshape ecosystems, societies, and relationships. Research suggests that reading and writing cli-fi can deepen understanding of environmental issues, encourage engagement with the ethical dimensions of climate change, and support future-oriented thinking and a sense of agency in response to climate challenges (Bartosch & Hoydis, 2025; Cothren et al., 2023; Milkoreit, 2016; Whiteley et al., 2016). These benefits are relevant not only for students, but also for teachers. By engaging in cli-fi writing, teachers can develop their own climate understandings, imagine alternative futures, and experience both the possibilities and challenges of this pedagogical approach before inviting students to do the same.
DOI: https://doi.org/10.33600/IRCJ.54.4.2026.50
Page Numbers: 50-59
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