Bagaleu climate‑fiction prize expands: novel award raised to €6,000 and new youth short‑story category launched

The Bomosa Foundation and the Government of Andorra have launched the second edition of the Bagaleu climate‑fiction prize, expanding the competition with a new youth short‑story category and increasing the award for novels. Organisers say the move aims to encourage writing that explores possible futures and creative responses to the climate crisis while keeping Andorra prominently in the narrative.

The novel category now carries a single prize of €6,000 for manuscripts between 40,000 and 70,000 words. A newly created short‑story category targets young Andorran writers aged up to 25, with works of 2,000–8,000 words eligible for a €1,500 prize; that youth award is supported by the Ministry of Culture. The senior novel category remains open to authors of any nationality.

All submissions must be written in Catalan and, according to the contest rules, should portray “possible futures” and offer perspectives of hope, resilience or inventive solutions to climate change, while featuring Andorra in a meaningful way. The organisers have also introduced a preliminary professional screening meant to improve the quality of the longlist before the jury deliberates.

The competition timetable gives authors until June 2026 to submit entries. The jury’s decision is scheduled to be made public in November 2026, and the winning works will be released in March 2027 by Chronos, a publisher specialising in speculative fiction that issued the winners of the first Bagaleu edition.

The judging panel repeats writer Teresa Colom as chair and includes novelist Mariona Bessa; new members joining them are poet and fiction writer Eva Aasa, editor Gonzalo Rodríguez and Arantxa Gimeno, a sustainability consultant at Bomosa. The foundation has published the contest rules and submission details at premibagaleu.ad.

The inaugural Bagaleu prizes awarded novels by Jordi Ecoin (L'efecte taca d'oli) and Eduard Martí (Infestació), both later published by Chronos. Organisers say the revised format and increased funding are intended to broaden participation and spotlight climate narratives that connect Andorra’s reality with wider speculative and solution‑oriented fiction.