Stories of Solastalgia: Book Launch

“Life and land are the same.”

Joni Odochao, Ban Nong Tao

Stories of Solastalgia is a book written by the Land Body Ecologies network as part of Lawrence Wishart’s new series on race, health and climate.

In Stories of Solastalgia we explore how political decisions and environmental policies often labelled as ‘protection’ or ‘development’ measures impact the well-being of land-dependent communities. Throughout history, from the colonial era to neo-colonial green energy projects, these decisions have sidelined and displaced Indigenous and land-dependant communities, leading to widespread ecological harm. Stories of Solastalgia celebrates other ways of knowing, from songs to recipes, photographs and how-to guides presenting a collection of reflections from people living through environmental change from across Sápmi, Uganda, Kenya, Thailand, India, and the Arctic. 

We invite readers to experience the book as they choose. It can be read linearly, in regular chapter sequence, according to geography, or dropped into at random. A plurality of voices, textures and styles expressing solastalgia is used, from different languages and styles of writing, to sounds of more-than-human beings.

Some of the texts are composed of live and unrehearsed recordings of dialogue with a choice to retain the original voice and rhythms of speech, including moments of repetition, hesitation and silences, is deliberate; it intends to capture the pauses and unfinished thoughts intrinsic to the informal retelling of lived experiences.

Read more about environmental change impacts in Stories of Solastalgia. Order your copy now.

​​Published by Lawrence Wishart.

Buy now

“This book is a testament to the power of interdisciplinary research and the Land Body Ecologies group’s dedication to fostering a deeper understanding of our relationship with the natural world. A must-read for anyone passionate about environmental justice and the healing potential of storytelling.”

Julia Gillard AC, Chair of Wellcome Trust and former Prime Minister of Australia

“By centring Indigenous voices and traditional knowledge, this multifaceted book provides critical perspectives on the lived experiences of climate change. Its interdisciplinary approach, blending art, science, and cultural and traditional wisdom, creates a rich tapestry that challenges conventional academic discourse and pushes us to reconsider our relationship with the land.”

Dr Elaine C. Flores, Research Fellow in Planetary Health at London School of Hygiene & Tropical Medicine (LSHTM)

“Some communities already know what it’s like to lose their world. Climate grief – solastalgia – is not an abstract concept about the future. It is here. Now. ​ These essays, photographs, stories and testimonies connect us to generations of land-based communities … it shows us how to reimagine the world, how to honour ancestors and resist a future that erases our connection to the land.”

Tessa McWatt, author of Shame on Me: An Anatomy of Race and Belonging and The Snag: A Mother, A Forest and Wild Grief

“It is indeed unfortunate that a concept like solastalgia unites people around the world. The lived experience of negative change to one’s loved home environment is now so extensive; it could be said that now, ‘we’ all live in the ‘Age of Solastalgia’. To re-learn the essence of the human partnership with life, place and land, Stories of Solastalgia serves as a poignant reminder that the cure for solastalgia is the re-unification of human culture with diverse life-places on this amazing Earth…”

Dr Glenn A Albrecht, author of Earth Emotions: New Words for a New World. Coined the concept of solastalgia

Authors

Stories of Solastalgia was written by over 50 contributors, collaborators and friends in the Land Body Ecologies network:

Action for Batwa Empowerment Group (ABEG), Amy Balderston, Anush Kumar, Arjun Kapoor, Ayesha Ahmad, Babitha George, Ben Eaton, Bharat Mirle, Bwindi Batwa Singers, Daniel M Kobei, Ekibahigire Abias, Elizabeth Tumubwine, Emmanuel Barugahare, Geoffrey Kikoko (GPS), Invisible Flock, James Hamilton, Jenni Laiti, Jennifer Katanyoutant, Jessica Sim, Joffrey Buchebe, Jon Sironga, Joni Odocaho, Jovilo Naume, Kaisa Kerätär, Kennedy Kipng’eno, Kihembe Eliphazi Kabwana, Lazy Man Coffee, Leah Kawawa, Manju, Minority Rights Group (MRG), Nagamma, Nicole Redvers, Nishant Srinivasaiah, Ogiek Peoples’ Development Program (OPDP), Outi Autti, Quicksand, Riya Gokharu, Romit Raj, Samrawit Gougsa, Sanare Leboo, Santhosh, Sheila Ghelani, Shivalingu, Simon Sururu, Siwakorn Odochao, Srikanth, Sudeep, Sylvia Kokunda, Thimmarayappa, Usonog Women Group, Victoria Pratt, Violet Ntamihanda, Vishalakshi Padmanabhan.

Minority Rights Group is a co-founder of Land Body Ecologies, an interdisciplinary research group exploring solastalgia through the lens of marginalized communities, via a global and interdisciplinary network of human rights practitioners, artists, design researchers and academic. Its research is rooted within communities at the forefront of today’s climate, ecosystem and land rights issues. Our multifaceted work aims to widen climate change discourse and influence the ways solastalgia and land trauma are understood in mental healthcare and policy.