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THE MINISTRY OF TIME
By Kaliane Bradley
A BOY MEETS A GIRL. THE PAST MEETS THE FUTURE. A FINGER MEETS A TRIGGER. THE BEGINNING MEETS THE END. ENGLAND IS FOREVER. ENGLAND MUST FALL.
‘This stunning book takes you into a giddy tale of time travel which pulls off the feat of being highly entertaining, vividly credible and moving, but the twist in the plot which comes out of nowhere relates to climate crisis, and it packs a punch. This is climate fiction which manages to be both surprising and still makes its point powerfully: what desperate strategies may be considered several centuries hence to avert total catastrophe?’ – Madeleine Bunting, Climate Fiction Prize Chair of judges
(Sceptre, Hodder)
Kaliane Bradley is a British-Cambodian writer and editor based in London. Her short stories have appeared in Electric Literature, Catapult, Somesuch Stories and The Willowherb Review, among others. She was the winner of the 2022 Harper’s Bazaar Short Story Prize and the 2022 V. S. Pritchett Short Story Prize. The Ministry of Time is her first novel.
AND SO I ROAR
By Abi Daré
Plucky fourteen-year-old Adunni is in Lagos, excited to finally enrol in school. Having escaped her rural village in a desperate bid to seek a better future, she’s found refuge with Tia, a kind and brilliant woman on her own troubled journey of self-discovery.
But it’s not so simple to run away from your past.
‘Adunni is a compelling character in this heartbreaking novel, exposing the harsh realities faced by women and girls worldwide underscored by intersectional environmental issues. It’s a tough but essential read.‘ – Tori Tsui, Climate Fiction Prize judge
(Sceptre, Hodder)
Abi Daré was born in Lagos, Nigeria. Her debut novel, The Girl with the Louding Voice, was a New York Times and international bestseller, a BBC Radio 4 Book Club read and was shortlisted for multiple awards, including the Desmond Elliott Prize and the Guardian’s Not the Booker Prize. It has been translated into twenty-one languages.
In 2023, Abi established The Louding Voice Foundation to provide scholarships and empowerment programs for women and girls in underserved communities in Nigeria. She lives in Essex with her family.
BRIEFLY VERY BEAUTIFUL
By Roz Dineen
The world is on fire. And what will you do?
In a city rocked by global catastrophe, home-grown terrorism, shortages and wildfires, Cass is quietly raising three small children by herself. Her husband, Nathaniel, has left to serve as a medic in a war overseas.
‘Stunningly, poetically realised, an urgent, tender and raw observation of how, when things come upon us at our most tender and vulnerable, we are compelled to act and protect, again and again. A haunting, fierce narrative of love, beauty and the desire to live through an accelerating crisis and a world on fire.‘ – Nicola Chester, Climate Fiction Prize judge
(Bloomsbury Circus)
Roz Dineen was at the Times Literary Supplement for twelve years, variously as Fiction Editor, Features Editor and a contributor of essays, reviews and a column. Born in Brighton, she studied English Literature at Trinity College, Dublin, and received a Masters in International Studies and Diplomacy from SOAS. She was Robert L. Bartley Fellow at the Wall Street Journal, where her writing has also appeared. She lives with her two children in South London.
ORBITAL
By Samantha Harvey
A team of astronauts in the International Space Station collect meteorological data, conduct scientific experiments and test the limits of the human body. But mostly they observe.
‘A majestic hymnal of what we have, what we share and what we stand to lose. Our only home observed on repeat from the end of a lyrical umbilical cord, from the planet which birthed and sustains us, it reads like a preparatory eulogy sung by a small choir of deeply human angels. Stellar and profound.’ – Nicola Chester, Climate Fiction Prize judge
(Jonathan Cape, PRH)
Samantha Harvey is the author of the novels The Wilderness, All is Song, Dear Thief and The Western Wind and a work of non-fiction, The Shapeless Unease: A Year of Not Sleeping. Orbital won the Booker Prize in 2024. Her work has also been shortlisted for the James Tait Black Award, the Women’s Prize, the Guardian First Book Award and the Walter Scott Prize. The Wilderness was awarded the Betty Trask Prize. She is a tutor on the MA course in Creative Writing at Bath Spa University.
THE MORNINGSIDE
By Téa Obreht
There’s the world you can see. And then there’s the one you can’t. Welcome to The Morningside.
The Morningside was once the jewel of Island City. But now the luxury high-rise is crumbling and Island City is half-underwater.
‘A free-wheeling dystopian future on a flooded planet whilst exploring the mother/daughter relationships and the beauty and importance of myths and folklore.’ – Andy Fryers, Climate Fiction Prize judge
(W&N, Orion)
Téa Obreht is the author of THE TIGER’S WIFE, winner of the Orange Prize and a finalist for the National Book Award, and INLAND. She was born in Belgrade, in the former Yugoslavia, in 1985 and has lived in the United States since the age of twelve. She currently lives in New York City.
The shortlist was announced on 19 March 2025.
The winner will be announced at a ceremony in London on 14 May 2025