Imagine2200: Climate Fiction for Future Ancestors

Premise

Fix, Grist’s solutions lab, invites you to submit a hope-filled climate fiction short story for our second annual contest, Imagine 2200: Climate Fiction for Future Ancestors.

Stories must be set anytime between today and the year 2200, and show a path to a clean, green, and just future. We especially want to read — and share — narratives that center solutions from the communities most impacted by climate change and stories that envision what a truly equitable, decolonized society could look like. In 3,000 to 5,000 words, show us the world you dream of building.

Of course, we don’t expect you to be overly optimistic or Pollyannaish; 178 years of equitable climate progress will involve hard work, struggle, and adaptation, and we invite you to show that, too.

We’re also especially interested in cultural authenticity (a deep sense of place, customs, cuisine, and more); rich characters with intersecting identities; and stories that challenge the status quo in which wealth and power are built on extraction, oppression, and violence.

We’ll be looking for these core elements:

• Hope
• Vivid characters
• Cultural setting
• Creative solutions
• Decolonized futures

We will also judge submissions based on the quality of artistic voice, originality, craft, and technique, as well as the depth of the environmental, scientific, historical, and/or cultural background that informs the story.

What we’re offering to winners: 

• Cash prizes
• Publication on Fix’s site in the fall of 2022
• A reason to stay hopeful

The winning writer will be awarded $3,000, with the second- and third-place finalists receiving $2,000 and $1,000, respectively. An additional nine finalists will get $300 apiece. All winners and finalists will have their story published in an immersive collection on Fix’s website — each with its own original art — and will be celebrated in a public virtual event.

Publication Date: Fall 2022

Inspiration:

Imagine 2200 draws inspiration from Afrofuturism, as well as Indigenous, Latinx, Asian, disabled, feminist, and queer futures. The contest is also grounded in hopepunk and solarpunk — literary genres that uplift equitable climate solutions and continued service to one’s community, even in the face of despair.

We are excited to see what you write and to dive into the worlds you create!

Nuts & bolts

• Entry is free!
• Submissions close May 5, 2022, 11:59 p.m. U.S. Pacific Standard Time.
• The contest is open to writers anywhere in the world.
• Authors must be 18 years or older at the time of submission.
• Submissions must be fictional stories between 3,000 and 5,000 words.
• Submissions must be in 12-point Arial font and double-spaced. Pages must be numbered.
• We do not accept previously published or simultaneous submissions (stories can only be submitted to this contest and not to others, until we have informed you of the result).
• Only one submission will be accepted per entrant.
• Submissions will only be accepted through Submittable — click the “submit” button at the bottom of this page when you’re ready! If you need accessibility accommodations, please email the team at imaginefiction@grist.org.
• Stories will be judged by a board of literary experts, including acclaimed authors and editors Grace L. Dillon, Arkady Martine, and Sheree Renée Thomas.
• The first-prize story will be awarded $3,000; second prize is $2,000; and third prize is $1,000. Nine additional finalists will each receive $300.
• All 12 final stories will be published on Fix’s website, and the authors will be celebrated in a virtual event.
• Worldwide copyright and ownership of each story remains with the author.
• If a story is accepted for publication, Grist retains the first serial rights of the work to publish, produce, reproduce, distribute, and market.
• All other remaining rights revert to the author upon publication.

For more specific questions on what we’re going for, check out our FAQ post here. You can also contact the team at imaginefiction@grist.org.

Publication Date: Fall 2022

Apply Here

Visit the OFFICIAL PAGE for further information. DROP COMMENTS for questions/suggestions.