Continuing our interview series with authors contributing to our anthologies, we’re featuring Brian Burt. Brian is the author of the Aquarius Rising climate fiction trilogy. His short story, Oasis, was featured in our anthology, No More Fairy Tales: Stories to Save Our Planet.
No More Fairy Tales: Stories to Save Our Planet has been featured in the Top 20 List of fiction to inspire climate action. Each story and each climate solution in the anthology links to webpages where readers can follow up on solutions that inspire them.
Here’s our Q&A with Brian Burt, author of Oasis…
You were one of the authors for No More Fairy Tales: Stories to Save Our Planet. What attracted you to contribute a story, and what inspired Oasis?
I’ve always felt compelled to write fiction with environmental themes and have especially been enamoured with solarpunk. It emphasises telling stories about a world we’d all like to live in, where technology and ecology coexist in symbiotic balance. When I saw that No More Fairy Tales was seeking contributions for an optimistic climate action anthology targeted at COP27, I was hooked! ‘OasIS’ (Ocean asIndependent State) emerged from one of the story theme suggestions. The idea of the world’s oceans declaring their independence fascinated me, especially in combination with seasteading, which I had researched in the past.
Were there any other stories that inspired you in the anthology?
I definitely draw inspiration from many of the stories in No More Fairy Tales. I’m a huge Kim Stanley Robinson fan, so The Carboni and Drambers both resonated. I also loved Saving the Titanic. This upbeat tale of creative problem-solving reaffirms our ability to mitigate the climate crisis if we focus our collective efforts.
What’s next for you?
Personally, I’m focused on writing short stories that fit into the eco-fiction or solarpunk subgenres right now. I enjoyed the challenge of finishing my Aquarius Rising Trilogy (climate fiction novels), but short stories are less daunting and provide quicker gratification! I’m currently working on a series of ‘trail tales’ inspired by the hiking paths that crisscross our local nature centre. Its diverse habitats have given me and my family many hours of enjoyment, tranquillity, and spiritual renewal. My most recent solarpunk story, Hard Reset, was published in Issue #9 of Neon Origami. I continue to believe that eco-fiction can reach readers in ways that nonfiction articles or essays, no matter how clear and compelling, simply can’t. Anthologies like No More Fairy Tales are proving that to be the case!
Thanks for being our Author of the Month!
A pleasure!
