As 'cli fi' gets hot, is the publishing industry warming up to it or does it remains cool to it?







In April 2013, NPR radio in America sounded the alarm about a hot new literary
genre dubbed "cli fi'' (thank you producer and reporter Angela Evancie), and in May 2013 the
Guardian newspaper in Britain did a follow-up (thank you Rodge Glass)
 -- followed by 'cli fi' stories in Dissent magazine's Summer 2013 issue,
the New York Yorker magazine (thank you Carolyn Kormann), New York
magazine (thank you Kathryn Schulz), the Financial Times
in London (thank you, Pilita Clark), the New York Times (thank you
Richard Perez-Pena) and the Winnipeg Free Press in Canada (thank you
Jen Zoratti).

And now as the world turns, and as the 415 ppm of carbon dioxide in the
atmosphere reaches ever upward, the publishing industry in New York,
London and Sydney remain more or less mum and tight-lipped about what
they intend to do with this trending new genre of cli-fi literature.


But in a posible series of imaginary interviews FOR NOW with people who work in the book
business in New York and London, we came across some far-seeing
imaginary but possible made up quotes.

"'If cli fi takes off the way that sci fi  did years ago, this could
be a very good publishing event for all of us," said a top literary
agent in Manhattan. "And good news, too."

"I am not sure if cli fi will work, but the term makes sense in this
age of climate fear and loathing," said an acquring editor for a major
house in Australia. "Maybe there's something here."

"I would love to see people submitting cli fi genre novels," said an
editorial director and the CEO of a major book firm in San Francisco.
"I see a
big market here and with a lot of territory to explore."

"If we want to save the world, maybe this cockamamie cli fi term might
help," said a Canadian woman who works for a top-notch green publisher
in Toronto. "I would love to see some major authors tackle the theme."

So there you have it.

Cli fi is on the march, and publishers are
following its every trending media appearance online and in print. But
when will cli fi have its own label or category on the online book
ordering site Amazon, and when will cli fi catch on to the degree that
a Nobel Prize in Literature is awarded one year in the future to the
writer of such novels is anyone's guess.