Amitav Ghosh on the Importance of Re-Centering Stories of the Land

Emergence Magazine is an online publication with annual print edition exploring the threads connecting ecology, culture, and spirituality. As we experience the desecration of our lands and waters, the extinguishing of species, and a loss of sacred connection to the Earth, we look to emerging stories. Our podcast features exclusive interviews, narrated essays, stories and more.

How can stories return us to what is essential as we navigate an uncertain future? In this conversation with Amitav Ghosh, author of The Nutmeg’s Curse: Parables for a Planet in Crisis, he calls on storytellers to lead us in the necessary work of collective reimagining—decentering human narratives and re-centering stories of the land.

Emergence Magazine, Vol 3: Living with the Unknown explores what living in an apocalyptic reality looks like through four themes: Initiation, Ashes, Roots, and Futures. Every two months we’ll release a new chapter online. Experience “Chapter Three: Roots.”

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Listen to the rest of this story on Emergence Magazine’s website or by subscribing to the podcast.

Amitav Ghosh is an Indian-born scholar, novelist, and nonfiction writer. His many books include The Great Derangement: Climate Change and the Unthinkable and The Nutmeg’s Curse: Parables for a Planet in Crisis. He is the recipient of numerous awards, including the Jnanpith Award—India’s highest literary honor—the Pushcart Prize, the Blue Metropolis International Literary Grand Prix, the Tagore Literature Award, and three lifetime achievement awards. His essays have appeared in The New Yorker, The New Republic, and The New York Times.