Letters from the Future New Brunswick [video]

With the climate changing and a pandemic transforming life as we knew it, the future now seems very uncertain. But New Brunswickers are hungry for hopeful stories of the future to counter the short-sighted, and outdated visions offered by our politicians and policy makers.

Letters from the Future: How New Brunswickers Confronted Climate Change and Redefined Progress is our new book published by Chapel Street Editions in Woodstock. It brings together 37 diverse authors who offer new visions for the future of the province. It is written by people who care deeply about our province. Most of the stories originally featured in the “Letters from the Future” series of articles published by the NB Media Co-op.

Watch the book trailer:

The future is created from what we imagine is possible. With the right stories to guide us, we can create a healthier, happier province, richer in the ways that matter.

Times of crisis can trigger transformation. There are encouraging signs now in New Brunswick. Topics once impossible to imagine being discussed are now part of everyday conversations and policy debates. Yet, fighting against what has gone wrong only goes so far. To transform our economic and social worlds in a way that would stop a climate catastrophe, we need new ideas leading to actions that create sustainable economic and social relationships.

To get there, positive, shared narratives are essential. Many letters in the book originated as NB Media Co-op stories, published in partnership with the RAVEN (Rural Action and Voices for the Environment) project at the University of New Brunswick.

In editing Letters from the Future, we asked our authors to transport themselves to the distant and not-so-distant future and describe what it took to take us there. The letters dream about what New Brunswick could become if we seize the opportunity to create the province we want to live in—a New Brunswick that confronts climate change and achieves its goal of sustainable living, and a province that helps effectively address the environmental, economic, social justice, human rights, and public health challenges we are currently experiencing.

Letters from the Future is edited by Daniel Tubb, Abram Lutes and Susan O’Donnell. It costs $25 (CAD) and can be purchased from the publisher Chapel Street Editions by sending an email or by phone (506 325-3546) to arrange shipping (app. $6 per copy). Copies are available now at Westminster Books in Fredericton, Tidewater Books in Sackville, the NB Museum Gift Shop (NBM Boutique) in Saint John, the Woodstock Farm and Craft Market, the McCain Gallery in Florenceville-Bristol, and NextDoor Arts and Crafts in Harvey Station.

We are having an in-person book launch and discussion with the editors and local authors at the Sunbury Shores Arts and Nature Centre in St. Andrews on Saturday, Nov. 20 from 3 to 5pm. Everyone is welcome to join us there. After the launch, copies will also be available for purchase at Boutique La Baleine / The Whale Store in St. Andrews.

Daniel Tubb is an environmental anthropologist at the University of New Brunswick. Abram Lutes, originally from Woodstock, is a recent graduate from Carleton University.