The 2026 Shields Prize Shortlist is Here!
Hellions by Julia Elliott (Tin House)
The White Hot by Quiara Alegría Hudes (One World)
Cannon by Lee Lai (Drawn & Quarterly)
A Guardian and a Thief by Megha Majumdar (McClelland & Stewart, Canada; Knopf, USA)
Lion by Sonya Walger (New York Review Books)
The winner of the Carol Shields Prize for Fiction will receive $150,000 USD and a five-night stay at Fogo Island Inn.
The four finalists will each 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.
This year’s nominees were chosen by a Jury of writersmade up of Carmen Maria Machado (Jury Chair), Ivan Coyote, Cherie Dimaline, Chitra Divakaruni, and Deesha Philyaw.
The winner will be announced on June 2 at a ceremony in Toronto, Canada.
The prize is generously supported by BMO, which has been the award sponsor since 2023.
People Magazine broke the news in an exclusive reveal!
https://people.com/carold-shields-prize-for-fiction-2026-shortlist-exclusive-11954314
Go to https://tinyurl.com/2026ShieldsPrize to access the press release and media assets.
If you are in the U.S., click here to shop the 2026 Prize list on Bookshop.org via our affiliate link. We get a small percentage of every sale. Find places to shop the shortlist in Canada on our website.
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Link to Instagram, Facebook, LinkedIn, X, Bluesky, Threads, and our Newsletter: https://mailchi.mp/carolshieldsprizeforfiction/2026-shortlist
