Preorders for the first edition of ECO: The Year’s Best Speculative Fiction are now open, and you can grab a 30% discount off both the paperback and ebooks!
If you’re a fan of science fiction and fantasy, and you love wild things, strange creatures, and protecting the natural world, this is a treasure box of brilliant, moving, and thought-provoking stories for you.
ABOUT ECO24: The Year’s Best Speculative Ecofiction
A must-read annual showcase of the best nature-based science fiction and fantasy short stories published around the world every year.
Speculative ecofiction has a long history, but ECO: The Year’s Best Speculative Ecofiction is the first ever anthology series to collect the finest short stories published in this genre each year.
Featuring works by both rising stars and established names, this anthology is an exploration of humanity’s relationship with other species and of our communal fears, grief, and passion as we try to protect our natural world—all told through the lens of the fantastic.
Ranging from literary science fiction and magical realism to dark fantasy and climate fiction, each story is a unique snapshot of how some of the most brilliant and imaginative speculative fiction authors writing today are engaging with this extraordinary time in Earth’s natural history.
This vibrant lineup for the inaugural edition, selected by award-winning editor and anthologist Marissa van Uden and a team of passionate ecofiction judges from hundreds of nominations, includes works by Eugen Bacon, E. Catherine Tobler, Hiron Ennes, K-Ming Chang, Kay Vaindal, Kelsea Yu, Renan Bernardo, and many other incredible talents.
For Immediate Release 6/5/2026 Lexington, KY: Violet Lichen Books and Apex Book Company are so excited to announce the finalists for ECO25: The Year’s Best Speculative Ecofiction! A huge congratulations to these authors and publications, and to all the authors who made it to the shortlist. The quality of all the stories made for some… Read more: Finalists Announced for ECO25: The Year’s Best Speculative Ecofiction
We are excited to reveal the cover and announce the shortlist for ECO25: The Year’s Best Speculative Ecofiction! The cover art is by Marcela Bolívar, with cover design by Mikio Murakami at SilentQDesign. Our panel of judges read hundreds of ecofiction stories published in 2025 across more than 170 magazines, journals, and anthologies around the… Read more: ECO25 Shortlist & Cover Reveal!
Violet Lichen Books is excited to announce the acquisition of THEY CALL THE PLACE WILD by Rae Mariz. Pitched as Richard Powers’ THE OVERSTORY meets the Brothers Grimm and Slavic folklore, this novella is a lush dark fantasy about the stories we’re told and the stories we make for ourselves.
Violet Lichen Books is so excited to add a brilliant new book to its catalog today. Happy Book Release Day to THE CELLAR BELOW THE CELLAR by Ivy Grimes!
This gorgeous novella is a magical blend of the supernatural and the mundane, the beautiful and the weird. Ivy’s prose has a way of drawing you into her truly memorable characters, and the story constantly surprises, shifting seamlessly between weird and creepy to funny and surreal.
ECO: The Year’s Best Speculative Ecofiction is an annual showcase of some of the most compelling ecofiction published every year. If you published speculative ecofiction in 2025, you can now nominate your stories for consideration in ECO25!
Violet Lichen Books 
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