The 2025 Imagine climate fiction contest collection
Explore 12 brand-new climate fiction short stories that invite us to imagine the future we want — futures in which climate solutions flourish and we all thrive.
Climate Fiction
About Imagine 2200
Imagine 2200 is Grist’s climate fiction initiative, engaging writers across the globe in envisioning the next 180 years of climate progress. Whether built on abundance or adaptation, reform or a new understanding of survival, these stories serve as a springboard for exploring how fiction can help us build toward a better reality.
Explore past winners and collections
Latest climate fiction stories
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![Illustration depicting the process of cooking kolak pisang, an Indonesian dish made with banana and coconut milk]()
![Illustration depicting the process of cooking kolak pisang, an Indonesian dish made with banana and coconut milk]()
Legend Has It
When a minor disaster shakes up the plans for a local ceremony, a young woman and her colleagues pull together to provide for the community.
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![Illustration of man and woman performing a ritual for a neglected river]()
![Illustration of man and woman performing a ritual for a neglected river]()
Omaliyi
A young woman finds herself called back to her home, to help protect a river that nourished her and her community.
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![Illustration of Black mother and daughter holding hands, surrounded by rain clouds and waves]()
![Illustration of Black mother and daughter holding hands, surrounded by rain clouds and waves]()
The World Away From the Rain
In post-warming Rwanda, a family learns to move past the trauma left behind.
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![Illustration of reindeer on cliff with colorful swirls exploding from a powerful stomp]()
![Illustration of reindeer on cliff with colorful swirls exploding from a powerful stomp]()
Secret Powers
In land once claimed by Russia, a magical deer joins a young girl as she grows up and changes her land for the better.
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![Illustration made up of sunset scenes depicting a flood, birds in sky, hands holding soil, a brother and sister sitting in grass, and a seedling popping out of the ground.]()
![Illustration made up of sunset scenes depicting a flood, birds in sky, hands holding soil, a brother and sister sitting in grass, and a seedling popping out of the ground.]()
The Florida Project
A set of adult twins return to their Gulf Coast hometown to rewild the land, and remember the family who came before them.
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![Illustration of three people working in a tea field]()
![Illustration of three people working in a tea field]()
Seven Sisters
As hard times and broken bots threaten a collective tea farm, the women keeping it going must decide whether to add another to their ranks.
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![Illustration: A Black man in tattered clothes sits atop a tree in the middle of a small island. A black bird sits next to him and an unrealistically large purple snake with yellow eyes encircles the tree.]()
![Illustration: A Black man in tattered clothes sits atop a tree in the middle of a small island. A black bird sits next to him and an unrealistically large purple snake with yellow eyes encircles the tree.]()
The Lexicographer and One Tree Island
After an “oceanic rapture,” a lone survivor adapts to his new reality in ways both mental and physical.
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![Illustration of woman and man waiting on boat, watching whale sharks swim below]()
![Illustration of woman and man waiting on boat, watching whale sharks swim below]()
By the Skin of Your Teeth
Amid the sharks and waves of Hawaiʻi, two people discover something important about themselves, and each other.
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![A futuristically dressed Black woman holds a basket of fruit and looks down at a picnic scene below. Wind turbines float in the air and a city can be seen in the distance.]()
![A futuristically dressed Black woman holds a basket of fruit and looks down at a picnic scene below. Wind turbines float in the air and a city can be seen in the distance.]()
We are what we nurture
Imagine 2200's second year offers lessons on how art fosters hope.
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![Illustration of Black woman surrounded by colorful fish, one overlapping with her face, aligned with where her eye would be]()
![Illustration of Black woman surrounded by colorful fish, one overlapping with her face, aligned with where her eye would be]()
The Metamorphosis of Marie Martin
A Jamaican woman takes more than she gives, until the sea teaches her a valuable lesson with implications for everyone around her.
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![Illustration of dolphins and people swimming]()
![Illustration of dolphins and people swimming]()
Tidings
Tiny robots eat plastic, tattoos livestream video, we all swim with dolphins, and more amazing vignettes from a better future.
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![Illustration with vibrant colors depicting images of a human, a Greenland shark, a doe, and an eagle, connected by water]()
![Illustration with vibrant colors depicting images of a human, a Greenland shark, a doe, and an eagle, connected by water]()
The Secrets of the Last Greenland Shark
The last four creatures on Earth make an amazing discovery as the oldest of them finally returns home.
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![Illustration of a woman sitting in a canoe amid water and vegetation]()
![Illustration of a woman sitting in a canoe amid water and vegetation]()
El, the Plastotrophs, and Me
During a journey upriver, a young couple comes to terms with receiving a priceless gift, only to have it suddenly taken away.
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![Conceptual illustration of a figure on her knees in a vertical farm. Another figure floats above her head.]()
![Conceptual illustration of a figure on her knees in a vertical farm. Another figure floats above her head.]()
When It’s Time to Harvest
An elderly couple struggles to let go of their successful farm — and the only way of life they’ve known — before it’s too late.
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![Illustration of a woman writing and looking out a window]()
![Illustration of a woman writing and looking out a window]()
A Worm to the Wise
When an aspiring journalist goes digging for a scandal, she finds a community — and a calling.
