The Carol Shields Prize for Fiction’s longlist includes 15 unforgettable works of fiction by women and non-binary writers in the United States and Canada, spanning novels, short story collections, and a graphic novel.
The shortlist will be revealed on April 21.
On June 2, one of these writers will be awarded the $150,000 USD grand prize at a ceremony in Toronto.
In addition to the grand prize, the Winner will receive a five-night stay at Fogo Island Inn. Each of the four Finalists will receive $12,500 USD. The Winner and four Finalists will be invited to participate in a group retreat residency in the Leighton Artist Studios, Banff Centre for Arts and Creativity in Alberta, Canada.
Longlist selections were made by a Jury of esteemed writers:
Carmen Maria Machado(Jury Chair), Ivan Coyote, Cherie Dimaline, Chitra Divakaruni, and Deesha Philyaw.
“It’s been such an honor and a privilege to encounter this body of work by women and non-binary authors, who are writing some of the most exciting literature I’ve seen in an age.”
Meet the 2026 Shields Prize Longlist
The Edge of Water by Olufunke Grace Bankole (Tin House)
Sea, Poison by Caren Beilin (New Directions Publishing)
milktooth by Jaime Burnet (Vagrant Press)
Suddenly Light by Nina Dunic (Invisible Publishing)
Canticle by Janet Rich Edwards (Spiegel & Grau)
Hellions by Julia Elliott (Tin House)
Casualties of Truth by Lauren Francis-Sharma (Atlantic Monthly Press)
The White Hot by Quiara Alegría Hudes (One World)
Audition by Katie Kitamura (Riverhead Books)
Cannon by Lee Lai (Drawn & Quarterly)
Wild Life by Amanda Leduc (Random House Canada)
A Guardian and a Thief by Megha Majumdar (McClelland & Stewart, Canada; Knopf, USA)
The Morgue Keeper by Ruyan Meng (7.13 Books)
The Sea Gives Up the Dead by Molly Olguín (Red Hen Press)
Lion by Sonya Walger (New York Review Books)
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