Survivology: A 3-Day conference and workshop on Climate Fiction and Speculative Futures

Our civilisation, and thanks to us, our planet, is living through an unprecedented time of foundational change, which some have called the sixth mass extinction event since life began on Earth. We have very little time to fix our way of life before it is swept away altogether. No one on this planet has not been affected by climate destabilisation. Now is the time to work with our coevolved biomes rather than against them, and fiction can be the mass motivator that gets us to act when all else has failed.

The Centre for Development and Environment Policy, Indian Institute of Management Calcutta, in collaboration with the School of Cultural Texts and Records, Jadavpur University, and Kalpabiswa Publication, is holding a three-day workshop-cum-conference on 19-21 December 2025, titled ‘Survivology: Climate Fiction and Speculative Futures’.

We seek to bring together writers, researchers, publishers, and readers in a three-day gathering on climate change and creative responses to it. Climate change is an immediate and lived reality over much of the Global South, and India, with its vulnerabilities to rising sea levels, heat waves, monsoon disruptions, and agrarian crises, stands at the epicentre of climate transformations. In this context, speculative and climate fiction (Cli-Fi) emerges as a vital mode of engagement, allowing a range of responses that partake of resilience, justice, and the possibilities of new world-making.

Invited Speakers

• Gautam Bhatia – Supreme Court lawyer, editor of award-winning Speculative Magazine Strange Horizons, and author of The Wall, blending speculative fiction with sharp explorations of justice and freedom.
• Francesco Verso – Award-winning Italian science fiction writer, translator, and editor of Future Fiction, known for championing global speculative voices.
• Sami Ahmed Khan – Indian science fiction author, academic, and Fulbright scholar whose works link futurism with sociopolitical critique.
• Indrapramit Das – Internationally acclaimed author of The Devourers, blending myth, history, and speculative imagination.
• Appupen – Graphic novelist and artist, creator of the Halahala universe, known for his dystopian visual storytelling.
• Barnita Bagchi – Chair professor of literature at the University of Amsterdam, who has written extensively on speculative fiction and utopia.
• Rajat Chowdhury – Bengali speculative fiction writer and editor, author of The Butterfly Effect, and active voice in Indian SF discourse.
• Samit Basu – Bestselling Indian novelist and screenwriter, creator of the Turbulence superhero novels and the climate-themed The City Inside.
• Rimi B. Chatterjee – Author, translator, and retired professor at Jadavpur University, noted for her works in speculative fiction and graphic narratives.

Conference Organizing Committee

Nandita Roy (Center for Development and Environment Policy, IIM Calcutta), Abhijit Gupta (School of Cultural Texts and Records, Jadavpur University) and Dip Ghosh (Kalpabiswa),

Special Sponsor

British Science Fiction Association

Programme Schedule (Tentative)