Cli‑fi shortlist lands
The 2026 Climate Fiction Prize shortlist was unveiled today — six finalists including Maria Reva’s Endling and Madeleine Thien’s The Book of Records, spotlighting novels that rethink survival, adaptation and identity rather than disaster spectacle. Critics say the list signals a clear shift in 'cli‑fi' toward nuanced, character‑driven work spanning settings from Tasmania to Ukraine. (thebookseller.com) (theguardian.com)
Four other novels joined the shortlist this year: Dusk by Robbie Arnott, The Tiger’s Share by Keshava Guha, Awake in the Floating City by Susanna Kwan and Hum by Helen Phillips. (lovereading.co.uk) Those four titles appear under UK imprints including Chatto & Windus/Vintage for Dusk, John Murray for The Tiger’s Share, Pantheon (US) / Simon & Schuster (UK) for Awake in the Floating City, and Atlantic Books (UK) / S&S (US) for Hum. (redlionbooks.co.uk) The 2026 judging panel is chaired by Arifa Akbar and also includes Kit de Waal, Jessie Greengrass, climate scientist Friederike Otto and broadcaster Simon Savidge. (thebookseller.com) The shortlist was unveiled at a public event at The Conduit on March 18, the winner will receive £10,000 and is due to be announced on May 27 with a winners’ celebration at the Hay Festival on May 30. (eventbrite.co.uk) The prize was founded by Rose Goddard, Imran Khan and Leo Barasi and last year’s inaugural winner, Abi Daré, took the £10,000 award for And So I Roar. (climate-spring.org) Judges highlighted recurring concerns across the shortlist — domestic-scale stories of care and community alongside novels tracing how colonialism and patriarchal power compound environmental collapse. (thebookseller.com) Robbie Arnott’s Dusk arrived into the awards season with strong notice, appearing on lists such as The New Yorker’s best books of 2025 and receiving multiple UK editions this year. (penguinrandomhouse.com)
