“The Price of Everything,” a novel by Philadelphian Jon McGoran, has been longlisted for the second Climate Fiction Prize, joining 11 others in the running for a $13,550 prize.
The Climate Fiction Prize is a literary award stewarded by the UK-based organisation Climate Spring, which supports the integration of climate crisis-related storytelling in digital media.
“The Price of Everything” follows protagonist Armand Pierce in a world McGoran says is set in a near future that reflects aspects of our current reality: “unchecked climate change exacerbated by wealth disparity and corporate oligarchies forcing desperate people to accept extreme measures in order to pay the rent—and the reality that the longer we put off necessary changes, the bolder and more disruptive those changes will have to be,” he described in an email to Grid.
Interested in the science of climate change since childhood and realizing over time the true risks of letting the planet’s temperature rise, McGoran has found it important to incorporate the crisis in his work.
“Climate change is the biggest threat humanity faces, and we have been tragically incapable of confronting it,” McGoran said. “It is important for storytellers to make it impossible to ignore, not just by lecturing or cajoling, but by creating rich, compelling, exciting, and thought-provoking stories that people will want to read.”
The shortlist will be announced on March 18, and the winner will be chosen in May.
