Welcome to Spill Stories

Spill Stories will be read at a free, public event on Wednesday, April 4th in Tucson. Join us at Borderlands Brewing Company at 6:30pm to hear the reading live.

Spill Stories is a creative response to data documenting over 8,000 major oil and gas spills from U.S. pipelines since 1986. As a collaboration between the Climate Alliance Mapping Project (CAMP) and students and professors from the University of Arizona’s Creative Writing program, Spill Stories brings oil and gas pipeline spill data to life through creative writing.

Terrain.org is a journal of the built and natural environments.Completed Spill Stories are being published weekly by Terrain.org, a journal of the built and natural environments. To read the stories and see accompanying maps of U.S. oil and gas pipeline spill data, visit the Spill Stories category on Terrain.org. The first Spill Story was published on March 26, 2018.

Use the links below to learn more about Spill Stories and the public data that inspired them.

Start here.

This story map is an introduction to Spill Stories and the Climate Alliance Mapping Project.

 

 

 

Explore the data.

When you are ready to explore the data in more depth, follow along with this PDF. This guide was created as a resource for University of Arizona writers in the process of completing their Spill Story, but anyone can use it to learn more about the data.

Here are the details.

Spill Stories is an ongoing project as of Spring 2018.

Who? Any students or professors involved with the MFA program in Creative Writing are welcome to participate as this first phase of the Spill Stories gets underway. Remy Franklin (CAMP Project Coordinator) will organize the event and help orient you to the maps.

What? Creative pieces that respond in some way to U.S. oil and gas pipeline spills. Short poems and fiction are welcome. Prose and poetry should be 750-words or less (for prose, you’re aiming for approximately the length of a Brevity submission).

When? Interested writers must confirm their participation by February 28, 2018. Finalized writing is due by Friday, March 16. Pieces will be read publicly in Tucson at Borderlands Brewing Company on April 4, 6:30pm.

Where? Data is available online (follow the instructions above). The public reading will take place in Tucson at Borderlands Brewing Company on April 4, 6:30pm. Terrain.org has agreed to publish the creative pieces alongside embedded maps and data.

How? To confirm your interest in writing a Spill Story, please fill out this short form. Remy Franklin (CAMP Project Coordinator) will follow up with more details and instructions for exploring the data using various interactive maps. You can also meet with Remy for an in-person orientation.

Why? Oil and gas pipelines underpin much of what’s wonderful about modern life, but they always come with a cost. As energy systems transition in response to climate change, we urgently need to engage a broader public in the realities of oil and gas infrastructure. Spill Stories is a chance for writers to create and share timely work that engages a broader audience with pipeline spills and opportunities for a future beyond fossil fuels