Interconnected through reading: The purpose of art in climate comms with Vajra Chandrasekera

Vajra Chandrasekera is a writer from Colombo, Sri Lanka. His debut novel The Saint of Bright Doors (2023) won Nebula, Ignyte, Crawford, and Locus awards, and was nominated for the Le Guin, Lammy, and Hugo, among others. His second novel Rakesfall (2024) won the Otherwise Award and is a Nebula and Locus award finalist, and was selected as one of the best books of the year by the New York Times, NPR, and Esquire. His short stories, poems, and articles have appeared in many publications including Clarkesworld, West Branch, and The Los Angeles Times. In this chat, Vajra discusses the value of art in exploring different aspects of humanity, climate fiction as a theme in writing alongside capitalism and empire, and the writing pleasure in subverting literary tropes.Follow Climate Decoded on Instagram @climate_decoded and LinkedInRead the transcript and find resources mentioned in the episode at the Climate Decoded website: https://climatedecoded.com/Support the podcast by buying us a coffee at https://buymeacoffee.com/climatedecoded Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.