AN author is using literature to highlight global issues and warn people of the future dangers.

Phil Gilvin, from Swindon, who published his first novel Truth Sisters last year, is tackling themes such as climate change, women and power and epidemic diseases.

“It’s got a number of themes in my book; there’s climate change, the running out of resources, not only of energy but the running out of mineral resources as well,” he said.

“Another subject that interested me is the general topic of women and power. I think women’s rights have come a long way in the last century, even in the last 50 years.

“We sometimes forget how far they have come, but that doesn’t mean to say that there is not a lot more work that need to be done.

“I think it has become very common for male authors to explore female characters. I could say that I am feminist.

“The message behind this book is that we are going to need to work together to deal with the threats faced by society.”

The story of Truth Sisters takes place in 2149, a time where women have taken control over men. “In the book you have a disease that killed ten times as many men as women,” said Phil.

“I needed to find a way of generating a society that was dominated by women.

“What women are trying to do is to recover the old knowledge, because there are a lot of things that have been forgotten. It’s certainly happening now because people are becoming more reliant on IT and because things are now so complex.”

“In those themes, I think running out of resources is likely and climate change is already happening, so we are going to face it.”

Phil, who has lived in Swindon since the 1980s, said that the town partly inspired him to talk about the environment.

“Without being sniffy about Swindon, another great thing about it is that it lies in some excellent countryside and I think there’s a heritage to the countryside around Wiltshire,” he said.

“I think it gives you a sense of how long things have continued for and how fragile the environment can be.

The Swindon Literature Festival, renamed this year as the Spring Festival, has also been one of the main influences.

“Just having this thing here in Swindon does mean that literature is kept alive and I think it’s a really great, ” he said.

Phil has written a few short stories and two unpublished novels. He is currently writing the sequel of Truth Sisters and has almost finished the first draft.

He will be giving a talk at Liden Library on April 17 at 11am to share his career journey and talk about the themes covered in his book.