Climate fiction - from page to action

The inaugural climate fiction prize was recently announced! We've listed the five shortlisted titles below, so that you can easily find the one that most peaks your interest.

One of the downsides of prizes, as they are generally conceived, is that they tend to only focus on recently published works. This plays into the short lifetime of books, focusing all promotion and attention on a tight publishing schedule. There have of course been climate-focused novels and short story collections long before this, many of them ground-breaking and inspirational to writers as well as climate justice organisers.

We've taken the cheeky liberty of adding some of our favourites to the list below, to honour the legacy of climate fiction, particularly by minoritised writers.

It's also, always, worth remembering that although fiction, and literature at large, are absolutely vital in furthering our understanding, breaking through cognitive dissonance and making necessary links between, for example, the crimes of the fossil fuel industry, racial injustice and the atrocities that mark the history of colonialism, they are also just that: a starting point.

What happens after you've put the book down is crucial. Read and think, then act.

The book industry itself is long overdue a difficult look at the ways it contributes to climate injustice - in the way it's financed to the way wealth is distributed and the physical impact of production. In this context, it's essential that our engagement with climate injustice doesn't stop with reading. Let the books be companion pieces, as well as seeds, to your actions alongside other. The latter is more urgent than ever.

The following are links to current campaign and groups, in Scotland and further afield:

The Stop Rosebank campaign recently had a huge win against the largest unexploited oil and gas field in the North Sea. They need you to make sure next application (which is coming) doesn't get approved. You can read more about the campaign in this blog.

Fossil Free Books is a collective of book workers organising for a book industry free of fossil fuel funding and free of complicity with human rights abuses. They're currently encouraging every book worker (including authors, booksellers, publishers and many more) to join their union. You can read more here.

Climate Camp Scotland are creating spaces where we can resist the power of fossil fossils and reimagine a greener future for people, not billionaires. This year's camp takes place 22-29th July. Find out more here

This is Rigged is a direct action campaign targeting the Scottish government’s lack of action on both the climate and cost-of-living crisis. Visit their website here.Energy Embargo for Palestine are an anti-imperialist climate organisation based in Britain seeking to disrupt energy flow for the isolation of zionism. Found out more here

Resist Glencore stands in solidarity with all communities across the world facing violence, displacement and extractivism at the hands of mega-mining corproration Glencore. There will be a day of coordinated international actions on May 25th 2025.