What happens when the place millions of people love most disappears? 

On April 2 in Laxson Auditorium from 7:30–9 p.m., Pulitzer Prize finalist Rosanna Xia will bring that question to Chico State to discuss her award-winning book, “California Against the Sea: Visions for Our Vanishing Coastline.”

The event is part of this year’s Book in Common program, which is designed to spark meaningful conversations about pressing issues facing the broader community. In the program, a book is selected each year by a group of Chico and Butte College faculty, staff, students and community members.

This year’s book, “California Against the Sea: Visions for Our Vanishing Coastline,” examines rising sea levels along California’s 1,200-mile coastline and how climate change is threatening both natural ecosystems and coastal communities. Sea levels have risen about eight inches over the past century in cities like San Francisco and La Jolla, according to OEHHA.

Xia combines personal narratives from Indigenous leaders — including the Amah Mutsun and Chumash tribes, whose cultures and lifestyles face unique threats from rising seas, according to NASA. Alongside perspectives from community activists and environmental scientists to illustrate the wide-reaching impacts of climate change on California’s shoreline.

“The more I got to know each community, each person, each expert I spoke to … the more that I realized that this story of our coast-past, present and future-is also a story about power, and privilege, and our ability to be imaginative,” Xia said.

Xia is an environmental reporter for the Los Angeles Times, an author and a documentary filmmaker with a specialization in coastal and ocean reporting. Her work has also been featured in Best American Science and Nature Writing. She was a Pulitzer Prize finalist in 2020 for her expertise in investigative and narrative journalism. 

Xia’s work has been motivated by her desire to understand and address the complex issues surrounding California’s coastline and her commitment to telling engaging and meaningful stories. She especially believes in the role of community involvement in being adaptive and resilient against climate change, according to Chapman University.

“This book is not all doom and gloom,” Xia said. I find that kind of climate change story to be unhelpful, and I sought to write a different kind of book about our future.” 

The book has indeed been recognized for that, earning honors such as the PEN/E.O. Wilson Literary Science Writing Award and the California Books Award Gold Medal. Critics have praised Xia’s writing style for its clarity and urgency, making complex environmental issues easily accessible to all audiences.

“People from all over have told me that this book changed the way they looked at the shoreline, and that it really deepened their own connection to the water, no matter how far they lived from the sea,” Xia said.

In this urgent and inspiring hour-and-a-half lecture, Xia will share insights from her reporting, discuss the human stories behind the science, and invite attendees to reflect on their own relationship to the environment. 

“The coast is for everyone, and I’m particularly excited to come to Chico and share this book,” Xia said. 

Tickets for the general audience are $27, youth (17 and under) are $17, and for Chico and Butte College students, it is free. Students can pick up a free student ticket at Meriam Library’s Circulation Desk on the first floor; all you need is to show your student ID and provide your campus email. Student tickets and purchase tickets are also available at the Chico Performances Box Office. 

Whether you’re a student, planner, educator, activist or simply someone who cares about the environment, this event aims to encourage attendees to engage, reflect on and take action on climate issues.

Lucy Bakowski can be reached at [email protected]