Early details for the 2027 Climate Fiction Prize have now been released, with a longlist to be announced in February, followed by a shortlist in March. The winner will be announced at a ceremony in May.
Submissions for the 2027 prize are now open. All details can be found here.
Hum, by Helen Phillips, wins 2026 Climate Fiction Prize
The winner of the 2026 Climate Fiction Prize has been announced, with Helen Phillips taking the award for her gripping novel, Hum, exploring the intersection of climate, technology and AI. Phillips received the award at a ceremony in London, and becomes the second winner of the prize.
“A book that deals with love, community and family in the face of climate crisis, privilege and the age of AI.”
– Arifa Akbar, Chair of Judges
In a near-future world addled by climate change and inhabited by intelligent robots called “hums,” May loses her job to artificial intelligence. Forced to become a guinea pig for experiments to alter her face to avoid surveillance, she finds solace, at great cost, in one of the last remaining botanical gardens.
Hum was selected as the winner from a wide ranging shortlist, from experimental literary works to folklore and reimagined myths, and from science fiction to generational family saga. The judges celebrated Hum’s urgency, the nuance of the writing and the deeply connected threads of love, community and family that shine through. Accepting the award, Phillips said:
“Thank you to everyone here, and everywhere, who believes that narratives of all kinds can help us face our future in a world increasingly shaped by climate change. That is why this prize is so important, and why it is the honour of a lifetime to receive it.”
The Prize, worth £10,000, was awarded at a ceremony at Kings Place, London. Phillips discussed Hum with Climate Fiction Prize judge and broadcaster Simon Savidge, at Hay Festival.
“Beautiful and intimate, this novel about the difficulties of love and care in a world which is increasingly mediated by technology is one I’ve found myself thinking about long after finishing the last page.”
– Jessie Greengrass, Climate Fiction Prize judge
Shortlisted titles
Hum was chosen from the six shortlisted books selected by the judging panel in March.
- 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)
The shortlist was chosen by the five 2026 Climate Fiction Prize judges: 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); leading climate scientist Dr Friederike Otto, senior lecturer in climate science at Imperial College London and co-founder of the World Weather Attribution initiative; and Simon Savidge a bibliophile, broadcaster and presenter whose YouTube channel Savidge Reads has over 2.5 million views.
“This prize matters because fiction lets us bear witness and makes the abstract real. It gets under your skin and moves the heart in a way data alone cannot“
– Abi Daré, inaugural Climate Fiction Prize winner
Inaugural winner, Abi Daré, recognised in Climate 100 List
The inaugural winner of the Climate Fiction prize, Abi Daré, has been celebrated as a leading change maker in the Independent’s second annual Climate 100 List. You can read the whole piece below:
Climate fiction: no longer the stuff of sci-fi
An editorial in the Guardian explores the growth and expansion of climate fiction, in light of the shortlist announcement for the inaugural prize.
“The climate crisis asks us to imagine other forms of human existence—a task to which fiction is the best suited of all cultural forms.”
Amitav Ghosh
About the Climate Fiction Prize
The Climate Fiction Prize celebrates the most inspiring novels tackling the climate crisis.
Through great stories, it will support societies to fully grasp the climate change threat and to embrace its solutions. It’s not enough for audiences to know about climate change; they need to see an uncertain future and understand that change is urgent but possible.
The £10,000 prize is awarded annually to a single novel.