Climate Fiction Prize Announces 2024 Shortlist
Madeleine Thien and Robbie Arnott are among the authors shortlisted for this year’s £10,000 climate fiction prize, now in its second year. The award recognises novels that creatively engage with the climate crisis through imaginative storytelling. This year’s shortlist features a diverse range of styles, including speculative fiction and reimagined myth.
Shortlisted Novels and Authors
Thien’s The Book of Records follows a girl who flees flooding in a near-future China with her father, arriving at a large migrant compound called the Sea. The novel explores the human costs of the climate crisis and social injustice, weaving personal and historical journeys across generations. It was described as a
“rich and beautiful novel”.
Robbie Arnott’s Dusk tells the story of twins who join a hunt for a puma in the Tasmanian wilderness. James Bradley praised the novel as a
“starkly beautiful and deeply felt”work.
Indian author Keshava Guha’s second novel, State of Emergency, is also shortlisted. The book is a state-of-the-nation tale of sibling rivalry set in heavily polluted Delhi.
Susanna Kwan’s debut, Awake in the Floating City, features an artist and a 130-year-old woman she cares for, two of the last remaining people in a flooded future San Francisco.
Maria Reva’s Endling addresses environmental collapse alongside Russia’s invasion of Ukraine. The novel was described as
“dexterous and formally inventive”and was longlisted for the Booker Prize.
Helen Phillips’s sixth novel, Hum, is set in a near future where robots called “hums” have taken over many jobs, the air is poisonous, and tap water is contaminated. It was called
“mesmerising and scary”.
Judging Panel and Longlisted Titles
The judging panel includes Arifa Akbar, chief theatre critic at ; novelists Kit de Waal and Jessie Greengrass; climate scientist Friederike Otto; and broadcaster Simon Savidge.
Titles longlisted but not shortlisted include Every Version of You by Grace Chan, Helm by Sarah Hall, Albion by Anna Hope, The Price of Everything by Jon McGoran, Juice by Tim Winton, and Sunbirth by An Yu.
About the Prize and Eligibility
The award is funded by Climate Spring, an organisation that also finances and consults on climate-related film and TV projects.
Lucy Stone, founder and executive director of Climate Spring, said of the shortlisted novels:
“These novels fluidly move across genres and settings while grappling with some of the defining themes of our time – power, accountability, community and resilience in a changing world.”
The prize was launched in June 2024 at the Hay literary festival, with the inaugural winner being Abi Daré’s What’s Mine and Yours.
To be eligible for this year’s prize, books must have been published in the UK between 1 September 2024 and 31 August 2025. The winner will be announced on 27 May.
