Kim Stanley Robinson: In Conversation

Australian Broadcasting Corporation

American science fiction writer Kim Stanley Robinson, best known for his award-winning "Mars" trilogy, joins Lucy Sussex at the Melbourne Writers Festival to discuss the inspiration for his work and the problems facing planet Earth.

Robinson explains to his audience why it is important for everyone to know about science, especially in the face of the climate change crisis. It's a subject very close to the author's heart: virtually all of Robinson's novels have an ecological component with sustainability being one of his major themes. Robinson also defends science fiction, believing it deserves more attention by literary awards such as the Booker Prize. After all, if one of his favorite authors, Virginia Woolf, was a science fiction fan, why can't contemporary literary audiences appreciate the genre more?