Climate Fiction Prize announces 2026 shortlist

Today, we're excited to unveil the 2026 Climate Fiction Prize shortlist. Now in its second year, the Climate Fiction Prize, supported by Climate Spring, brings together six spectacularly wide-ranging novels for its 2026 shortlist, exploring the climate crisis, and our response to it. From experimental literary works, folklore and reimagined myths to science fiction and generational family sagas, this year's shortlist once again showcases the limitless creative interpretation of climate fiction.

The 2026 Climate Fiction Prize shortlist:

• Dusk by Robbie Arnott (Chatto & Windus, Vintage)
• The Tiger’s Share by Keshava Guha (John Murray Press, Hachette) 
• Awake in the Floating City by Susanna Kwan (Simon & Schuster)
• Hum by Helen Phillips (Atlantic Books)
• Endling by Maria Reva (Virago, Little, Brown)
• The Book of Records by Madeleine Thien (Granta Books)

Set in the domestic sphere in increasingly artificial or altered worlds Hum and Awake in the Floating City explore community, compassion and what it is that makes us human. The political Tiger's Share vividly depicts how colonialism and patriarchal structures fuel the climate crisis whilst the literary Book of Records humanises climate migration through the prism of finding community amongst oppression. The prescient Endling looks at current competing crises, stressing the interconnectedness between conflict and climate. Dusk, a western adventure, is a remarkable parable about finding love and redemption in healing our relationship with the natural world.

There is a striking, repeated, focus on community response and familial relationships as a means of survival and finding agency. The list explores resilience and humour in the face of despair as well as rage at injustice. Representing authors from across the world, including India, Ukraine, America, China and Tasmania, the novels reflect how the effects of the climate crisis and dual crises are being felt close to home.

Founder and Executive Director at Climate Spring, Lucy Stone, said: 

“From intimate family stories to sweeping political and historical narratives, this year’s Climate Fiction Prize shortlist once again highlights the extraordinary range of climate storytelling today. 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. What unites them is the exceptional imagination and craft of the writers behind them, showing us how fiction can illuminate the complexities of the climate crisis while reminding us of the resilience, relationships and collective action that shape our shared future.”

This year’s judging panel brings together some of the most exciting voices from literature, the arts and climate science; a mix of perspectives that reflects the very spirit of the genre: Chaired by Arifa Akbar, Chief Theatre Critic at The Guardian and former literary editor of The Independent; award-winning, bestselling novelists Kit de Waal (The Best of Everything and My Name is Leon) and Jessie Greengrass (The High House and Sight) and Dr Friederike Otto, professor in climate science at Imperial College London and co-founder of the World Weather Attribution initiative. Finally, Simon Savidge is a bibliophile, broadcaster and presenter whose YouTube channel Savidge Reads has over 2.5 million views. 

‍About the Climate Fiction Prize

The Climate Fiction Prize celebrates novels that explore what it means to be human in our rapidly changing world. The prize recognises compelling, genre-led storytelling that engages with the realities of climate change. It highlights how climate fiction spans genres, from thrillers and sci-fi to romance and comedy, showcasing the breadth and diversity of stories that engage with the social, cultural and emotional dimensions of climate change.

Find out more about the shortlisted books here.