Abi Daré wins inaugural Climate Fiction Prize for ‘And So I Roar’
By Adeola Ogunrinde
Nigerian-British writer Abi Daré has won the inaugural Climate Fiction Prize for her novel And So I Roar (Sceptre, Hodder). The novel tells the story of fourteen-year-old Adunni, who moves from Lagos—where she is excited to finally enroll in school—to her home village, where she is summoned to face charges rooted in the devastating effects of climate change.
The Climate Fiction Prize, launched in June 2024 at the Hay Festival in Wales, is a literary award created to spotlight novels that engage with the climate crisis. With a £10,000 reward, the prize aims to encourage storytelling that explores and responds to environmental challenges through fiction.
Supported by Climate Spring—a global organisation focused on shifting public perception and response to the climate crisis through storytelling in film and television—the prize reflects the growing role of the arts in tackling climate change.
The award was presented to Daré at a ceremony in London on May 14, 2025. In her acceptance remarks, she said, “This prize matters because fiction lets us bear witness and makes the abstract real. It gets under your skin and moves the heart in a way data alone cannot.”
The Climate Fiction Prize shortlist featured five titles that highlight the depth and diversity of the genre. Each novel, chosen from an all-female longlist announced in November, approaches the climate crisis from a unique narrative lens and genre.
The shortlisted titles included:
- The Ministry of Time by Kaliane Bradley (Sceptre, Hodder)
- And So I Roar by Abi Daré (Sceptre, Hodder)
- Briefly Very Beautiful by Roz Dineen (Bloomsbury Circus)
- Orbital by Samantha Harvey (Jonathan Cape, PRH)
- The Morningside by Téa Obreht (W&N, Orion)
Daré’s win further cements her reputation as a powerful voice in contemporary fiction, especially in weaving urgent social and environmental issues into compelling storytelling.
