Launching Britt Wray’s Timely Guide to Eco-Anxiety

Britt Wray’s Generation Dread is a solutions-focused look at how to deal with the often-challenging emotions that come up in relation to the climate crisis. Though it has just been released it has already been met with critical acclaim from the likes of award-winning director Adam McKay (Vice, Succession, Don’t Look Up), who called it “a vital and deeply compelling read.” Naomi Klein, author of On Fire and This Changes Everything, says, “If you are ready to feel through eco-anxiety, grieve what’s lost, and imagine what comes next, read this courageous book.”

Climate academics are adding their support, including Katharine K. Wilkinson, who is a climate strategist and the co-editor of All We Can Save. Of Generation Dread, Wilkinson writes, "What a gift! Generation Dread meets the unsettled soul with kinship and insight. In these brimming pages, Britt Wray guides us through the interior and interpersonal landscape of the climate crisis, helping us find a grounded, collective path forward in our tangled time.”

We’re living in a world where climate and environmental-related fears are ever rising. As with any type of stress, eco-anxiety can lead to burnout, avoidance or a disturbance of daily functioning.

In Generation Dread, Wray merges scientific knowledge with emotional insight to show how these intense feelings are a healthy response to the troubled state of the world. The first crucial step toward becoming an engaged steward of the planet is connecting with our climate emotions, seeing them as a sign of humanity, and learning how to live with them. We have to face and value eco-anxiety, Wray argues, before we can conquer the deeply ingrained, widespread reactions of denial and disavowal that have led humanity to this alarming period of ecological decline.

Born and raised in Toronto, Canada, Wray is a postdoctoral fellow at Stanford University and the London School of Hygiene & Tropical Medicine, where she investigates the mental health consequences of ecological disruption. She holds a PhD in science communication from the University of Copenhagen. Her work has been featured in the New York Times, Washington Post, Guardian and Globe and Mail, among other publications. She writes Gen Dread, a newsletter about staying sane in the climate crisis.

I am excited to host a livestreamed conversation with Britt Wray where we will discuss her latest book, and talk about ways to learn from the past, from our emotions, and each other, with the goal of surviving and possibly thriving in this changing landscape.

The Tyee is delighted to partner with Upstart & Crow to share Wray’s valuable perspective with readers who care deeply about climate justice.

Join us for this emotionally charged and inspirational conversation.