Deb Olin Unferth: Take Your Time
In this interview, author Deb Olin Unferth discusses going from scenes in a notebook to her new novel, Earth 7.
Deb Olin Unferth is the author of seven books, including Barn 8 and Wait Till You See Me Dance. She has received a Guggenheim Fellowship and four Pushcart Prizes, and was a National Book Critics Circle Award finalist. Her work has appeared in Harper’s, The Paris Review, Granta, and McSweeney’s. Follow her on Instagram.
Int his interview, Deb discusses going from scenes in a notebook to her new novel, Earth 7, her advice for other writers, and more.
Name: Deb Olin Unferth
Literary agent: Bill Clegg
Book title: Earth 7
Publisher: Graywolf
Release date: June 9, 2026
Genre/category: Fiction; eco-fiction; speculative fiction
Previous titles: Barn 8, Wait Till You See Me Dance, I Parrot, Revolution, Vacation, Minor Robberies
Elevator pitch: An end-of-the-world love story about two women who construct a vast molecular collection in hopes that someone in the future may be alive to make a new Earth.
What prompted you to write this book?
I was inspired initially by the many technological band-aids climate scientists are suggesting as ways to prolong civilization through global warming and mass extinction. I was reading about experiments in refracting or blocking sunlight by shooting sulfur into the sky. It seemed so strange and the idea for the book came to me.
How long did it take to go from idea to publication? And did the idea change during the process?
The book was amorphous for a couple of years, just scenes and images in notebooks. I was busy and we were in a pandemic and my writing slowed to a trickle. But I was thinking about it and reading around, doing research. Then I had about two years of intensive writing. Then another year or two of rewriting and prepublication.
Were there any surprises or learning moments in the publishing process for this title?
My last book came out during the pandemic, so I was surprised and delighted to discover that bookstore and events are back, baby. The death knell has sounded on those a few times, but in the end people will always want to gather and talk about art and books and civilization.
Were there any surprises in the writing process for this book?
The early stages were slow and rocky, but once I saw what I wanted to do, the pieces began to slide into place with a kind of electric energy. That has happened to me before, and I always forget it.
What do you hope readers will get out of your book?
The book is an eco-novel about our impact on Earth and our increasingly strange attempts to preserve ourselves. I hope readers will think deeply about the impermanence of all life and the beauty of the present moment.
If you could share one piece of advice with other writers, what would it be?
Take your time. It’s better to give it a little extra time to make it riveting and important. The mad rush to pump out book after book is part of the sickness of consumerism.
