Author and Vancouver Observer reporter Carrie Saxifrage will share stories from her new book, The Big Swim, in Winnipeg on April 4 at 7 pm at McNally Robinson Bookstore.
A lot of people feel a growing unease, one that arises from the disconnection between our daily lives and the irrefutable evidence that it’s time to act on climate change. The Big Swim reconnects personal life with climate change through stories that are funny and touching. Saxifrage set out to write a book that people who aren’t interested in the issue would enjoy. As a result, some of her stories have less to do with climate change and more to do with life: the death of a parent, adventures in nature and a building project gone awry. Other stories face the predicament head on: how climate change affects identity, the benefits and losses of decarbonizing one’s life and perspectives that support resilience in the face of difficult knowledge. Every story invites awareness of our place in the magnificent and intricate biological world.
Psychology research gives numerous reasons why people are “wired” to ignore climate change. One reason is that climate change comes to us in facts and figures that don’t engage our emotional minds, the parts of our brains where we form the decision to act. Research also provides the solution: tell stories! They engage the emotional mind. The Big Swim is a story about integrating the facts of climate change with the quest for meaning and joy. This accessible book can be used to start the conversations we need to have, about how working toward climate stability brings meaning, shared purpose and a happier future.
“Serious adventure on a serious planet. This is the kind of thinking and living we need to engage in.”
Bill McKibben
author of Oil and Honey, Eaarth, The End of Nature and other books.
“In a flash of inspiration, Carrie Saxifrage has invented the climate change memoir. Beautifully crafted, often touching and unexpectedly funny, here is your handbook to living deeply in perilous times.”
J.B. MacKinnon
author of The 100-Mile Diet and The Once and Future World
“Wow. This moving book invites us to reconnect with own wildness, to submerge ourselves in creation and come out doused with the sweet nectar of being alive. Carrie Saxifrage speaks a beautiful language – precise, transformative, unafraid. Read this book. It will give you hope.”
Shaena Lambert
author of Oh, My Darling and Radiance
Find more praise for The Big Swim at carriesaxifrage.com