For four years the Imagine 2200: Climate Fiction for Future Ancestors initiative has invited writers from across the globe to imagine futures where climate solutions flourish and all beings thrive. Through creative works of short fiction, these stories have charted not-always-easy paths toward a better world, reminding us that human promise and ingenuity are always at the heart of climate solutions.
Join 2025 Imagine 2200 contest judges Annalee Newitz and Omar El Akkad alongside Climate Fiction Creative Manager Tory Stephens for a live conversation exploring the transformative power of radical imagining, and how looking beyond the current moment can help us renew our resolve to create a better world.
This event is supported by NRDC and Earth Rising Foundation.
Omar El Akkad (he/him) is an author and journalist. He was born in Egypt, grew up in Qatar, moved to Canada as a teenager and now lives in the United States. He is a two-time winner of both the Pacific Northwest Booksellers’ Award and the Oregon Book Award. His books have been translated into 13 languages. His debut novel, American War, was named by the BBC as one of 100 novels that shaped our world.
Annalee Newitz (they/them) writes science fiction and nonfiction. They are the author of three novels: The Terraformers, The Future of Another Timeline, and Autonomous, which won the Lambda Literary Award. As a science journalist, they are the author of Stories Are Weapons: Psychological Warfare and the American Mind, Four Lost Cities: A Secret History of the Urban Age and Scatter, Adapt and Remember: How Humans Will Survive a Mass Extinction, which was a finalist for the LA Times Book Prize in science. They are a writer for the New York Times and elsewhere, and have a monthly column in New Scientist. They have published in The Washington Post, Slate, Scientific American, Ars Technica, The New Yorker, and Technology Review, among others. They are the co-host of the Hugo Award-winning podcast Our Opinions Are Correct, and have contributed to the public radio shows Science Friday, On the Media, KQED Forum, and Here and Now. Previously, they were the founder of io9, and served as the editor-in-chief of Gizmodo.
Tory Stephens (he/him) creates opportunities that transform organizations and shift culture. He is a resource generator and community builder for social justice issues, people, and movements. He currently works at Grist as the climate fiction creative manager, and uses storytelling to champion climate justice and imagine green, clean, and just futures. In another life he owned a kick-butt streetwear company, and he would have gotten away with eating the last cookie too, if it weren’t for his three meddling kids.
For more information: https://www.eventbrite.com/e/imagine-2200-climate-fiction-for-future-ancestors-tickets-1120022309879?aff=ebdssbdestsearch