Department of English

Creative Thesis: After October is a fiction novella that tells the story of four women facing an uncontained fire and their attempts to rebuild their life after everything has been destroyed, exploring themes of corporate harm, queerness, and families of choice along the way. The main character, June is happily living in the mountains of Northern California with her sister Logan, more-than-friend Selena, and mentor Beatrice. One October morning, they are forced to evacuate from a ferocious wildfire, taking them on an adventure through the forest as they try to escape with their lives. Six months later, June is struggling to get by in Los Angeles as she is separated from her friends and everything she knew. However, when she stumbles upon a pollution coverup, she finds her way back to those she loves and makes a new life in the wake of disaster. After October was written in response to the staggering lack of fiction works that address climate change in the current moment compared to its prevalence in people’s lives. While most often climate change is tackled in science fiction or “cli-fi” works, it is very real and has the potential to be incorporated into more contemporary stories. This novella also sheds light on some of the environmental injustices that occur against marginalized communities and points out how certain people can be more vulnerable in natural disasters. Through June’s journey, we can understand the impacts of climate disaster and what it means to survive it.