(This) Beginner's Guide to Cli-Fi

Aka the subgenre of all subgenres in this world that is nearing apocalypse.

What is Cli-Fi?

Cli-Fi, or Climate Fiction, is a genre of writing that tends to focus primarily on climate change. The genre also highlights a critical theme within its works: cli-fi must build on reality.

That being said, there’s technically no universal agreed upon parameters of what does or doesn’t constitute cli-fi, but the above is a good jumping off place. Whether you personally define cli-fi as a sub-genre of science fiction or literary fiction, or a broader category that can include works of horror, dystopian, or even romance, is as implied, a personal decision.¹

That being said, there’s technically no universally agreed upon parameters of what does or doesn’t constitute cli-fi, but the above is a good jumping off place. Whether you personally define cli-fi as a sub-genre of science fiction or literary fiction, or a broader category that can include works of horror, dystopian, or even romance, is as implied, a personal decision.

Australian and Indigenous authors in Aotearoa have emerged as a subgroup spearheading the genre with a particular emphasis. Australian cli-fi tends to build on the effects of climate change in Australia specifically, building on lived experiences through a particularly speculative lens.²

Speculative fiction, science fiction, and literary fiction have the most overlap with cli-fi, and as such, depending on the individual book, can be considered the larger genre container for cli-fi.

Where To Begin with Cli-Fi

Though I haven’t read much cli-fi yet, it is a subgenre that deeply interests me, as the climate crisis a particular area of both interest and concern. We should all be deeply interested in the climate crisis, as it impacts all of us.

Here are some cli-fi titles on my TBR that you might consider adding to yours.

“Hum” by Helen Phillips. Concerns AI and climate change.

Sea Now by Eva Meijer, translated from Dutch by Anne Thompson Melo. The Netherlands is sinking.

The Deluge by Stephen Markley. Dissects the idea and depths of sacrifice in the face of the future of humanity.

How to Fall in Love in a Time of Unnameable Disaster by Muriel Leung. The story of love within the toxic wasteland that is NYC.

The Shutouts by Gabrielle Korn. A queer dystopian novel set in a time of extreme climate change.

The Merge by Grace Walker. What happens when two people merge consciousnesses?

How High We Go In The Dark by Sequoia Nagamatsu. The story of a plague that spans hundreds of years and multiple generations.

Sunbirth by An Yu. Dissects family dynamics in a world where the sun is slowly shrinking away.

Endling by Maria Reva. Follows a Ukrainian Biologist whose work is funded by romance tours.

Orbital by Samantha Harvey. A subset of Sci-Fi, this book follows astronauts as they watch Earth from orbit.

Arborescence by Rhett Davis. What happens is humans turn into trees?

The Unworthy by Agustina Bazterrica, translated from Spanish by Sarah Moses. Follows the story of a woman held in a cell while the outside world falls into chaos.

The Temperature by Katerina Gibson. Dissects the relationship between climate change, social media, and the gaps between generations.

The Tiger’s Share by Keshava Guha. Investigates the connection between family and the state of a nation that is in full blown ecological collapse.

1. Wright, Georgia Grace and James Grey Lindgren. “What is ‘Cli-Fi’?” Oregon State Guide to Climate-Change Literature, edited by Rachael Garcia, 14 Jun. 2024, Oregon State University, https://liberalarts.oregonstate.edu/wlf/what-cli-fi-definition-and-exam…. Accessed April 28, 2026.

2. Milner, Andrew. “What Is Cli-Fi?” Australian Journal of Environmental Education 41.3 (2025): 409–419.