The collapse of Antarctica’s Thwaites Glacier—forecast to occur before the end of the decade—could raise global sea level by three metres. The grounding line, eroded by currents of warm water, is arguable the most important place on Earth right now, yet it lies two kilometres beneath the ice’s surface and thousands of kilometres from the nearest human settlement. Thwaites shows that in Anthropocene stories, the background is often the most critical location. Drawing on recent trends in environmental literature to bring the background to the foreground, and focusing in particular on Alexandra Kleeman's Something New Under the Sun (2021), I will explore the challenges of telling Anthropocene stories.

Professor David Farrier is the author of Footprints: In Search of Future Fossils (2020) and Anthropocene Poetics: Deep Time, Sacrifice Zones, and Extinction (2019). He teaches at the University of Edinburgh.

Zoom link: https://hku.zoom.us/j/97624487782?pwd=MlZkOGk2NldxUGl5MW0xMm9UV2dxUT09 

Meeting ID: 976 2448 7782 
Password: 110980 

In view of the current pandemic situation, all face-to-face events or activities shall be suspended in accordance to the notice issued by Task Force. As a matter of fact, the upcoming seminar will be shifted from hybrid mode to online mode only.