Submissions are now open for the 2023/2024 Imagine 2200 climate fiction short story contest

admin April 18, 2023

2 minutes read

DEADLINE: June 13, 2023

Submissions are now open for the 2023/2024 Imagine 2200 climate fiction short story contest

Grist is excited to announce our third-annual climate fiction short story contest, Imagine 2200: Climate Fiction for Future Ancestors.

Imagine 2200 is an invitation to writers from all over the globe to imagine a future in which solutions to the climate crisis flourish and help bring about radical improvements to our world.

Submissions for the 2023/2024 contest are now open. Grist looking for stories of 3,000 to 5,000 words that envision the next 180 years of climate progress — roughly seven generations – imagining intersectional worlds of abundance, adaptation, reform, and hope.

A great Imagine story showcases creative climate solutions, particularly through narratives that center the communities most impacted by the climate crisis, and that envision what a truly green, equitable, and decolonized society could look like. Grist celebrate fiction rooted in hope, justice, and cultural authenticity, and aim to amplify voices that have been, and continue to be, affected by systems of oppression.

There is no cost to enter. Submissions close June 13, 2023, 11:59 p.m. U.S. Pacific Time.

The winning writer will be awarded $3,000, with the second- and third-place winners receiving $2,000 and $1,000, respectively. An additional nine finalists will each receive $300. All winners and finalists will have their story published in an immersive collection on Grist’s website.

Stories will be judged by a panel of literary experts, including acclaimed authors Paolo Bacigalupi, Nalo Hopkinson, and Sam J. Miller.

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Imagine 2200 was inspired and informed by literary movements like Afrofuturism and Indigenous, Latinx, Asian, disabled, queer, and feminist futurisms, along with hopepunk and solarpunk. Grist hope writers of all genres look to these movements for inspiration, and Grist urge writers within these communities to submit stories.

Grist also invite you to bring climate fiction and the principles of Imagine 2200 into other genres. Write a climate mystery or comedy. If you love steamy romance, thread a climate story through that titillating enemies-to-lovers arc. Climate connects to every part of life — all sorts of stories can be climate stories.

So dream big — envision a world where we prioritize our well-being, work to mend our communities, and lead lives that celebrate our humanity. Grist can’t wait to read what you come up with.