Arifa Akbar (Chair of Judges)
Arifa Akbar is chief theatre critic at The Guardian. She is the former literary editor of The Independent where she also worked as a news reporter and arts correspondent. Her first book, Consumed: A Sister’s Story, was longlisted for the Baillie Gifford prize and shortlisted for the Costa Biography Prize, the PEN Ackerley Prize and the Jhalak Prize. Her second book, Wolf Moon: A Woman’s Journey into the Night, published in July 2025, was a BBC Radio Four Book of the Week. She is a former trustee of English PEN and the Orwell Foundation, where she co-administered its book prize.
‘I’m honoured to be chairing the panel of judges for this fantastic prize. Climate crisis is one of the most urgent issues of our day and this prize showcases authors telling stories about it in the boldest, most inspired and imaginative of ways.’
Kit de Waal
Kit de Waal is the author of the novels My Name is Leon, which was shortlisted for the Costa First Novel Award and won the Kerry Group Irish Novel of the Year, The Trick to Time, which was longlisted for the Women’s Prize for Fiction, a short story collection, Supporting Cast, and a memoir, Without Warning & Only Sometimes, which was a Radio 4 Book of the Week and was shortlisted for Biography of the Year at the Irish Book Awards. She is also editor of the Common People anthology, and co-founder of the Big Book Weekend festival. Kit was Chair of Judges for the Women’s Prize 2025 and is a Fellow of the Royal Society of Literature. She is currently Professor and Jean Humphreys Writer in Residence at Leicester University and her new novel The Best of Everything was released in April 2025.
‘I am delighted to be a judge for the Climate Fiction Prize 2026 a much needed way to focus storytelling on one of the most pressing issues of our time. This prize highlights those writers who are finding new ways to describe our relationship to climate and the environment and I can’t wait to read what they have to say.’
Jessie Greengrass
Jessie Greengrass is the author of two novels: The High House, which was shortlisted for the Costa Novel Prize 2021, the Orwell Prize for Political Fiction 2022 and the Encore Award 2022, and Sight, which was published 2018 and shortlisted for the 2018 Women’s Prize for Fiction. Her collection of short stories, An Account of the Decline of the Great Auk, According to One Who Saw It was published in 2015. It won the Edge Hill Prize 2016, a Somerset Maugham Award, and was shortlisted for the Sunday Times PFD Young Writer of the Year Award. She lives in Northumberland with her partner and their two children.
‘There’s nothing more human as a response to crisis than telling stories about how it feels, and how we might move forwards – it’s a privilege to be given the chance to do nothing for a while except explore these stories in all their variety, as told by some incredibly talented writers. I can’t wait!’
Friederike Otto
Friederike Otto is a professor in climate science at Imperial College London and co-founder and lead of World Weather Attribution (WWA), an international effort to analyse and communicate the possible influence of climate change on extreme weather events. In addition to well over a 100 academic papers she published two non-fiction books: Angry Weather in 2020 and Climate InJustice in 2025.
In 2021 Fredi was recognised for her co-founding of WWA on the TIME100 list as one of the world’s most influential individuals, and as one of the top 10 people who made a difference in science in 2021, by the journal Nature. In 2023 she received the prestigious German Environmental Prize and an honorary doctorate from Concordia University in Montreal in 2024 and one from Edinburgh University in 2025.
‘I’m very excited to be a judge on this panel. Telling stories that do not question the status quo will make the world of today – with rising inequality, authoritarian regimes and environmental destruction – seem inevitable. Without great stories, change is too hard.’
Simon Savidge
Simon Savidge is a bibliophile, broadcaster and presenter. He has judged the Costa Book Awards, Portico Prize and Desmond Elliott Prize. He has appeared on the Booker Prize Live on BBC, recommended books on BBC 5 Live and BBC Radio 2, co-hosted Turn Up For The Books on BBC Sounds. He has co-presented three seasons of Sky Arts Book Club and hosted Sky Arts Live from Hay in 2023. His YouTube channel Savidge Reads has over 2.5 million views. He is an Honorary Fellow of the Royal Society of Literature.
‘I am excited that through judging the Climate Fiction Prize I will be getting a front row view into the evolving cultural conversation around climate change through stories; those that confront us, those that suggest change and those that give hope. I am eagerly anticipating the submissions and the thoughts and discussions they provoke with such esteemed fellow judges and then with readers at large.‘