Kate Woodworth wanted to emphasize the importance of climate change, so that was one of the reasons she wrote, "Little Great Island."
What was your inspiration behind your most recent book?
Two forces in my life collided about a decade ago, and that "Bang” resulted in my new novel, "Little Great Island," which is about love, community, and climate change on a small island off the coast of Maine. I started worrying about what we are doing to our environment after watching Al Gores documentary, "Inconvenient Truth,” in 2006. By that, I mean a constant low-level anxiety punctuated by the occasional whine that nobody was doing anything. Then, about a decade ago, I experienced my own inconvenient truth: I wasn't doing anything, either. To be clear, I was recycling. I'd given up single-use plastic. I kept the thermostat at 64 degrees in the winter (in the NEW ENGLAND winter), which necessitated wearing long underwear I'd purchase for skiing inside the house. But I knew my actions were insufficient.
Around that time, I was writing vignettes and character sketches based on a real Maine island that holds a special place in my heart. I was specifically not writing a novel, not worrying about how my vignettes would fit together to form a plot. But once I realized I could no longer complain about a lack of climate action unless I did more, I decided to write a climate novel. I already had characters. I had a setting that, as an island situated in the second-fastest warming body of water on the planet, was suitable for showing how climate change impacts real people and real places. After that, it took 10 years to sculpt "Little Great Island" into a novel.
What does Reading Rainbow mean to you?
When I'm reading fiction with pride, I'm reading because understanding the thoughts, feelings and experiences of others matters to me. No other creature on this planet can read and process words into thoughts and feelings the way we humans do. This empathetic response has been demonstrated in multiple studies. Right now, it seems that empathy is limited in our society; narcissism and insistence on individual power is paramount. I am proud to be pushing back against that perspective, as a reader and as a writer, at least in my own quiet way.
I'm also reading with pride with I'm reading responsible nonfiction from reputable sources that give me access to information and understanding far beyond what's available in daily life.
Why do you feel representation of a variety of people is so important when it comes to writing books?
Our planet comprises a variety of people. Our communities do. Our families do. Fiction needs to reflect that variety, and, in the case of climate fiction, it needs to amplify it because drought, flood, fires, new viruses, mudslides, and food and water shortages are going to affect all of us. With apologies to oligarchs and to the highly affluent for this inconvenient truth: Your money isn't going to save you if the planet is uninhabitable. You may last a little longer than the rest of us, but I'm not sure whether that's going to be a plus.
I also feel strongly that showing the variety of life — not just human life — is important in climate fiction. Biodiversity is critical to life. Our very existence depends on the variety of life forms that we have taken for granted and that we are systematically destroying. Few people spend a whole lot of time thinking about phytoplankton, for example. These tiny cells live by the billions in ocean water and, in addition to being the lowest rung of the food chain for ocean dwellers (important to fish-eating humans), they change carbon dioxide into oxygen. Warming oceans kill phytoplankton. When phytoplankton levels fall below a minimal level, humans no longer have the oxygen necessary to survive.
Tell us a little more about the book and why you decided to write it.
Once I knew I wanted to write a novel about a community needing to reinvent itself in the face of climate change, I began focusing how we, as a national and global community, will react under the increasing stress brought on by warming temperatures. Essentially, our choices are to fight for our individual needs and wants or find a way to work together for the greater good.
Initially, the "Little Great Island" stakeholders choose the first approach, with the most obvious fracture point being between the summer visitors and the year-round population. To show this dynamic, I chose to have one of my primary point-of-view characters — Harry Richardson — be a summer visitor and the other — Mari McGavin — be island born and raised. But, of course, human differences — our needs, our wants, our beliefs — are far more complex than our understanding of home, just as they are far more complex than distinctions based on income, education, race, religion, sexuality, political affiliation, or any of the other “versus" delineations that are popular right now. Those differences are important, but they are only a part of our identities, which are also formed by factors such as family-of-origin dynamics and life experiences. Each of the eleven point-of-view characters in "Little Great Island" has a backstory that has defined their present wants and needs. Reggie wants Mari but she's married to another man. Lydia wants to retire but can't afford to. Frank wants enough money to help his kids. Tom wants the natural beauty of the island preserved for future generations. The island and its plants and animals — given voice through short omniscient sections — want only to persist.
On "Little Great Island," it takes a tragedy for the individuals to rise above their personal desires and come together as a community to find a way forward. I fear we, as a global society, are heading for the same kind of tragedy, but on a much larger scale. I hope not. I hope we choose to respect our planet and one another before it's too late. I hope "Little Great Island" can play a role in that choice.
What can fans expect from your book?
Readers of my first novel, "Racing into the Dark," said it was "of heroism and tenderness and wisdom about the human condition” (Ron Hansen, author of "The Assassination of Jesse James" by the Coward Robert Ford) and “compelling book about finding ourselves in places we'd never thought we'd be” (Susan Minot, author of "Evening" and the recent "Don't Be a Stranger"). I hope my readers will find the same compassion for characters pressured by the complexity of life present in my previous novel and short stories, alongside carefully crafted prose and a story that refuses to be put down. Future fans can expect more of the same, always in a setting where the repercussions of our changing climate play a role.
What's up next for you in the bookish world?
My grandiose goal is to connect climate writing more explicitly to climate action. When the term climate fiction, or cli-fi, first gained prominence in the 2010s, the speculation was that it would result in more action to save the planet. A recent study indicates that this hope hasn't materialized. I hope to change this result by including a call to action.
My next novel — which I am currently researching — is about two sisters in their 70s who, after decades of estrangement, find themselves together in the midst of a major hurricane.
Kate Woodworth is the award-winning author of “Racing into the Dark,” which has been celebrated by publications such as Publishers Weekly and Booklist. Additionally, her short stories have appeared in an array of literary journals, including Cimarron Review, Western Humanities Review, and Shenandoah. She is a Pushcart Prize nominee as well as the recipient of multiple Utah Arts Council and Dalton Pen Communications awards. In conjunction with the publication of Little Great Island, Woodworth has started the “Be the Butterfly” initiative, which encourages its participants to engage in small, meaningful ways of mitigating the effects of climate change. For more, visit katewoodworth.com.
