Fiction

Getting started with nonhuman fiction can be a daunting task. What is nonhuman and what can be gained from reading their stories? Here, we present a growing list of our favourite speculations on the perspectives of animals, plants and objects, attempting to make sense of the world around us. We also elevate works from the voices of marginalised communities, noting their positionality in enlightening nonhuman perspectives.

The human capacity for empathy is a powerful force. We hope these stories will bring new insights into your relationship with nature.

Know a resource that we haven’t included? Email us!

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Novels

The Axeman’s Carnival (New Zealand, 2022)
— Catherine Chidgey

A magpie learns of its exploitation as a social media celebrity.

What We Fed to the Manticore (USA, 2022)
— Talia Lakshmi Kolluri

Short stories from the perspectives of animals interrogating ideas of belonging and loss.

The Book of Form and Emptiness (USA, 2021)
— Ruth Ozeki

The Overstory (USA, 2018)
— Richard powers

White is for Witching (UK, 2009) 
— Helen Oyeyemi

The Miraculous Journey of Edward Tulane (usa, 2006)
— Kate DiCamillo

The Collector Collector (UK, 1997)
— Tibor Fischer

Short stories

Direction of the Road (USA, 1973)
— Ursula K Le Guin

A tree reflects on life along a highway in Oregon.

Only the Astronauts (Australia, 2024)
— Ceridwen Dovey

Short stories from the perspectives of objects sent to space.

Highlight: Hackgold | Hacksilver, featuring Voyager 1’s encounter with a material alien species, exposing the hubris of sending human stories into a vastly indifferent cosmos.

Here Be Leviathans (Australia, 2022)
— Chris Flynn

Short stories from various human-made objects and natural processes. 

Highlight: Shot Down in Flames, featuring the accounts of a creek, a rifle, and a bushfire.

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