The 2024 Imagine climate fiction contest
12 brand-new climate fiction short stories feature vivid, hope-filled, diverse visions of climate progress. Discover this year's winning stories now.
Climate Fiction
About Imagine 2200
Imagine 2200 is Grist’s climate fiction initiative, engaging writers across the globe in envisioning the next 180 years of climate progress. Whether built on abundance or adaptation, reform or a new understanding of survival, these stories serve as a springboard for exploring how fiction can help us build towards a better reality.
Explore past winners and collections
Latest climate fiction stories
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![An illustration shows a Chinese woman practicing tai chi amidst high-tech beehives]()
![An illustration shows a Chinese woman practicing tai chi amidst high-tech beehives]()
To Labor for the Hive
A beekeeper finds a new sense of purpose and community after helping to develop a warning system for floods.
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![Illustration of an old man looking out at a flooded almond farm with pink almond blossoms falling around him. In the floodwaters a vision of a family is visible]()
![Illustration of an old man looking out at a flooded almond farm with pink almond blossoms falling around him. In the floodwaters a vision of a family is visible]()
The Last Almond
As California prepares to destroy a levee and sacrifice its last remaining almond farm, its caretaker remembers the toll floodwaters have taken on his family.
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![Illustration of a young man staring straight ahead with fire reflected in his eyes and embers swirling around him. The background shows an abstract depiction of an island falling into the ocean.]()
![Illustration of a young man staring straight ahead with fire reflected in his eyes and embers swirling around him. The background shows an abstract depiction of an island falling into the ocean.]()
Accensa Domo Proximi
At a live art show in the bustling city, a cook grapples with the coastal home he lost.
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![An illustration shows a boy on a bike escaping from a chasing bull. Wind turbines are visible in the background.]()
![An illustration shows a boy on a bike escaping from a chasing bull. Wind turbines are visible in the background.]()
The Blossoming
A student seeking his purpose in life makes a discovery that could revive a friend’s vital research.
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![Illustration of a bowl of yellow cabbage curry on a purple table in front of family photographs depicting mothers and daughters]()
![Illustration of a bowl of yellow cabbage curry on a purple table in front of family photographs depicting mothers and daughters]()
Cabbage Koora: A Prognostic Autobiography
Across generations and a changing world, an Indian family preserves its traditions through food, dance, and the latest communication fads.
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![An abstract ilustration depicts hands lemerging from a foamy sea, lifting up a small white boat with a figure inside]()
![An abstract ilustration depicts hands lemerging from a foamy sea, lifting up a small white boat with a figure inside]()
A Gift of Coconuts
A family races against time to prepare their coconut farm for a massive storm surge.
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![In an illustration, two people stand next to a body of water. A ship is beached in the background.]()
![In an illustration, two people stand next to a body of water. A ship is beached in the background.]()
Gifts We Give to the Sea
A mother must come to terms with her child's identity, her husband's passing, and the changing landscape of their community.
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![Abstract illustration of two hands made of swirling blue and pink colors, with a small blue and white marble suspended above them]()
![Abstract illustration of two hands made of swirling blue and pink colors, with a small blue and white marble suspended above them]()
The Imperfect Blue Marble
In a culture where a child's first word takes on great meaning, a nonverbal child shows his compassion beyond words.
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![An illustration depicts a small house sitting on the edge of a pond in an overgrown forest at sunset. The abstract shape of a young girl's face is visible in the sky.]()
![An illustration depicts a small house sitting on the edge of a pond in an overgrown forest at sunset. The abstract shape of a young girl's face is visible in the sky.]()
The Long In-Between
A father's effort to honor his daughter’s memory through a rewilding project collides with his neighbor’s conventional farming practices.
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![Abstract illustration of a woman with water swirling around her]()
![Abstract illustration of a woman with water swirling around her]()
La Sirène
On a submarine housing children born with a genetic mutation, people of faith wrestle with the sin of causing an ecological disaster.
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![Illustration of a person with curly hair surrounded by a halo of swirling colors, looking out over a desert-scape]()
![Illustration of a person with curly hair surrounded by a halo of swirling colors, looking out over a desert-scape]()
Stasis
A desert dweller undergoes a rapid and enlightening metamorphosis to survive the seasonal migration.
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![Abstract illustration of a person looking up amidst underwater plants, with whales in the background]()
![Abstract illustration of a person looking up amidst underwater plants, with whales in the background]()
The power of climate fiction and the ethos of Imagine 2200
A note from Grist's Imagine 2200 creative manager on the importance of hopeful, authentic climate fiction storytelling.
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![Illustration in dark, muted colors shows a man and a woman standing outside a run down building covered in vines]()
![Illustration in dark, muted colors shows a man and a woman standing outside a run down building covered in vines]()
When We Are Ruins, Dance on Us
It’s been over a century since anyone has stepped foot in the former Supreme Court of Singapore. The building isn’t pleased.
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![An illustration shows a teen girl dressed in 1960s attire, with '60s memorabilia around her. In the foreground, her father looks back at her with concern. In the background, dilapidated houses are swallowed by the sea.]()
![An illustration shows a teen girl dressed in 1960s attire, with '60s memorabilia around her. In the foreground, her father looks back at her with concern. In the background, dilapidated houses are swallowed by the sea.]()
Replay Boomer
With climate change making the future look bleak, a father struggles to understand his teen’s participation in a movement of young people intent on reliving the past.
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![An illustration with a soft color palette. A Black man in the water wrestles with a sturgeon fish in a net. A white man looks on from a boat.]()
![An illustration with a soft color palette. A Black man in the water wrestles with a sturgeon fish in a net. A white man looks on from a boat.]()
You Only Love Rivers That Kill You
Two young men navigate grief and rivers in a Kansas City that is showing signs of healing from climate change, toxic contamination, and racism.
