Uploaded February 2026 | Updated September 2026, 2 days ago
Clima Incognita: Planning For An Unknown Climate
John Vaillant and David B. Williams in conversation with Brinda Sarathy
Award-winning author and journalist John Vaillant’s work explores the volatile intersection of human ambition and the natural world. His book Fire Weather, a Pulitzer Prize finalist, is a gripping chronicle of the Fort McMurray wildfire, offering a prophetic and urgent account of an increasingly flammable world. Author and naturalist David B. Williams’ book, Homewaters: A Human and Natural History of Puget Sound, sheds light on how the ecosystems of Puget Sound have suffered from human behavior, including pollution, habitat destruction, and the effects of climate change. Williams’ writing also emphasises the importance of understanding a region's ecological complexities in order to preserve its health. In conversation with author and Professor of Environmental Analysis Brinda Sarathy, they reflect on the conflicted ecological and political realities of living in a burning world.
John Vaillant is an award-winning author and journalist whose work has appeared in The New Yorker, The Atlantic, and National Geographic. His most recent book, Fire Weather: On the Front Lines of a Burning World, was a finalist for the Pulitzer Prize and the U.S. National Book Award, the winner of Britain's Baillie Gifford Prize and Canada's Shaughnessy-Cohen Prize, and was one of the New York Times’ ten best books of 2023.
David B. Williams is an author, naturalist, and tour guide whose award-winning books include Homewaters: A Human and Natural History of Puget Sound and Too High and Too Steep: Reshaping Seattle’s Topography, as well as Seattle Walks: Discovering History and Nature in the City. His newest book, Wild in Seattle: Stories at the Crossroads of People and Nature is a best of collection from his free weekly Substack newsletter, the Street Smart Naturalist.
Brinda Sarathy is professor and dean of the School of Interdisciplinary Arts & Sciences at the University of Washington Bothell. She is the author of three books and several articles on society and the environment, focusing on themes such as natural resource management, labor, and environmental justice. Sarathy received her Ph.D. in Environmental Science, Policy, and Management from UC, Berkeley.
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#climate #literature #naturalhistory
Clima Incognita: Planning For An Unknown Climate
John Vaillant and David B. Williams in conversation with Brinda Sarathy
Award-winning author and journalist John Vaillant’s work explores the volatile intersection of human ambition and the natural world. His book Fire Weather, a Pulitzer Prize finalist, is a gripping chronicle of the Fort McMurray wildfire, offering a prophetic and urgent account of an increasingly flammable world. Author and naturalist David B. Williams’ book, Homewaters: A Human and Natural History of Puget Sound, sheds light on how the ecosystems of Puget Sound have suffered from human behavior, including pollution, habitat destruction, and the effects of climate change. Williams’ writing also emphasises the importance of understanding a region's ecological complexities in order to preserve its health. In conversation with author and Professor of Environmental Analysis Brinda Sarathy, they reflect on the conflicted ecological and political realities of living in a burning world.
John Vaillant is an award-winning author and journalist whose work has appeared in The New Yorker, The Atlantic, and National Geographic. His most recent book, Fire Weather: On the Front Lines of a Burning World, was a finalist for the Pulitzer Prize and the U.S. National Book Award, the winner of Britain's Baillie Gifford Prize and Canada's Shaughnessy-Cohen Prize, and was one of the New York Times’ ten best books of 2023.
David B. Williams is an author, naturalist, and tour guide whose award-winning books include Homewaters: A Human and Natural History of Puget Sound and Too High and Too Steep: Reshaping Seattle’s Topography, as well as Seattle Walks: Discovering History and Nature in the City. His newest book, Wild in Seattle: Stories at the Crossroads of People and Nature is a best of collection from his free weekly Substack newsletter, the Street Smart Naturalist.
Brinda Sarathy is professor and dean of the School of Interdisciplinary Arts & Sciences at the University of Washington Bothell. She is the author of three books and several articles on society and the environment, focusing on themes such as natural resource management, labor, and environmental justice. Sarathy received her Ph.D. in Environmental Science, Policy, and Management from UC, Berkeley.
Follow us on –
Website - jlflitfest.org
Facebook - facebook.com/JLFInternational
YouTube - youtube.com/@JLFInternational
Instagram - instagram.com/jlfinternational
Twitter - twitter.com/JLFLitfest
#climate #literature #naturalhistory
