How to parent in a climate emergency? Through a series of inspiring letters written to his daughters, climate activist and writer, Ben Rawlence, finds new ways to open conversations and navigate the uncertainty of our changing times together

Writer and activist Ben Rawlence first began writing to his eldest daughter before she was born, expressing his fears at what it would mean to raise children in a rapidly changing world where the very concept of the future was in jeopardy. Twelve years later, dozens of these letters to his two daughters tell the story of one father's attempt to navigate the fundamental contradiction of raising children within an economic system that seems hostile to all life, and not only humans. Climate change poses a fundamental challenge to parenting. What knowledge should we pass on? What future are we preparing our children for? Generations risk being divided by an elephant in the room that neither side wants to name: the climate. By turns dark, hilarious and always bracingly honest, the letters to his daughters offer relatable and inspiring insights about parenting in perilous times. Ultimately Rawlence (and his daughters) show us that learning to see once again through the eyes of a child might hold the answer to how we parent, how we live and even the future of our planet.

Ben will be in conversation with local author Mark Lynas (Six Minutes to Winter : Nuclear War and How to Avoid It)

‘Climate change is an intergenerational issue: an existential crisis we are bequeathing to our descendants. Ben Rawlence's letters to his daughters grapple with questions of injustice and adaptation - but also celebrate the joy and hope and wonder of small children. Beautiful and thoughtprovoking’ Cal Flyn, author of Islands of Abandonment

‘I loved this book. Really, really loved it. Not just because I also have two daughters (so I was feeling it, on every step of a typically troubled parent’s climate path), but because, magically, he turns this intimate story into an extraordinarily compassionate account of what it's like to be living through the earliest stages of climate breakdown – regardless of whether or not you have children or grandchildren of your own.’ Jonathon Porritt, President of Population Matters

‘A delightful and important book. Every parent should read this and consider it as a handrail for climate conscious and compassionate 21st-century parenting. Having loved every page I have now begun writing letters to my own young daughters to emulate Ben’s piercing insight and heartfelt example.’ Merlin Hanbury-Tenison, author of Our Oaken Bones

‘Beautifully written, endearing and hopefully letters which made me laugh and cry. It’s a boo kfor all ages about conversations we all need to have’ Jane Davidson, author of #futuregen: Lessons from a Small Country

‘How do you find the right path when no one has come this way before? This book is a thoughtful, tender way to make a map of new and frightening territory.’ Jay Griffiths, author of Wild: An Elemental Journey

TICKETS

Tickets are a £5 or a book ticket is £20 (to include the HB). Please email Jules on jules@northbooks.co.uk or pop into the shop to reserve your place.

At North Books, 4 Castle Street, Hay-on-Wye on Wednesday 23 April, 6.30-8pm.

THE AUTHOR

Ben Rawlence is the author of The Treeline, City of Thorns and Radio Congo. Rawlence has written for the Guardian, London Review of Books, New York Times, New York Times Book Review, New Yorker and many other publications. He lives in Wales and is the founder and director of Black Mountains College, an institution dedicated to preparing people for the changes to come..

Ben’s latest work, published in April