Literary Eco-landscapes

Literary Eco-landscapes are book talks that highlight and draw attention to the latest trends in the interplay between literature and global climate change. The talks bring together writers and scientists to discuss novels addressing ecological themes and explore how art can still influence collective consciousness and promote sustainable thinking. The talks will be hosted by Maša Jelušič, PhD in Environmental Protection and writer, and Andrej Blatnik, PhD in Communication Studies and writer.
 
The beginnings of environmental awareness in literature date back to the Industrial Revolution, before the first recorded scientific warnings about human impact on the environment. The mystical depictions of untamed nature by the English Romantic poets (Wordsworth, Keats, Coleridge, etc.) and the philosophical treatises on the connection between humans and the wilderness by the American Transcendentalists (Thoreau, Muir, Emerson) draw the reader away from the cold rhythm of the industrial machines, towards the images of primordial nature. In the late twentieth century, the so-called ecological literature took a major turn when Rachel Carson’s highly acclaimed environmental science book Silent Spring (1962, Slovenian translation 1972) dispelled the illusion of scientific progress. Her book exposes readers to the dark side of the chemical pesticide industry and is a rousing call to action.
 
Over the following decades, the ecological theme was explored by a broad variety of writers; the attention it has attracted among authors seems to be gaining particular momentum recently. Redefining human relationship with nature, contemporary authors (Amitav Ghosh, Richard Powers, Jeff VanderMeer and others) are producing works that subtly but forcefully draw attention to our responsibility towards the environment, and are winning top literary prizes in the process. Nobel Prize winners Olga Tokarczuk's Drive Your Plow Over the Bones of the Dead and Han Kang's The Vegetarian testify to the fact that ecological awareness not only thrives in literature, but is one of the central moral imperatives of our time. In Slovenian literature, too, the ecological theme is coming to prominence. The Prešeren Fund Prize awarded to Nataša Kramberger for her work Po vsej sili živ confirms unequivocally that literary discourse on nature is not merely a possible artistic expression, but a life experience that has firmly lodged itself in the collective consciousness.

Literary Eco-landscapes place focus on some recent literary works and leading ecological voices, while examining the role of literature in today’s changing social consciousness. The series seeks to attract and bring together both the literary and the natural science communities, highlighting common links and different perspectives and approaches, while recommending must-read environmental books.

Maša Jelušič

Spring talks:

12 January 2026, at 20.00

Climatologist Lučka Kajfež Bogataj on Amitav Ghosh's novel The Hungry Tide (Cankarjeva založba 2008) and climate change

8 February 2026, at 20.00
Writer Tina Vrščaj on her novel Na Klancu (Cankarjeva založba 2022, 2024, 2025) and the need to reestablish human harmony with nature

15 April 2026, at 20.00

Dendrologist Robert Brus on Richard Powers' novel The Overstory (Beletrina 2022) and the importance of forests

14 May 2026, at 20.00
Writer Daniel Gustafsson on his novel Fine de Claire (Cankar Publishers 2025) and invasive species

Alma Karlin Hall, free tickets