Four Canadians make long list of Carol Shields Prize

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This article was published 14/03/2026 (211 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

The long list for the 2026 Carol Shields Prize for Fiction was revealed on March 10, with a quartet of Canadians among the 15 finalists.

The prize, which comes with a US$150,000 payout (about $203,000), is awarded for excellence in English-language writing to a woman or non-binary writer in the U.S. or Canada. The prize was first awarded in 2023.

The four Canadian writers in contention are Nina Dunic for the story collection Suddenly Light, Jaime Burnet for the novel Milktooth, Amanda Leduc for the novel Wild Life and Lee Lai for the graphic novel Cannon. Last year’s winner was St. Lucia-born, Ontario-based Canisia Lubrin for the book Code Noir.

The short list for the Carol Shields Prize for Fiction will be announced April 21, and the winner revealed on June 2. For the complete long list, see carolshieldsprizeforfiction.com.

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An incident in a Transylvanian mountain gold mine sends toxic runoff into neighbouring communities and water systems, wreaking havoc on the ecosystem and killing hundreds of villagers. And in Winnipeg, a couple who invested in the project comes under threat from a Romanian thug whose reach spans continents.

So goes the story in Margaret Sweatman’s new eco-thriller Night Birds — the author of Fox, The Gunsmith’s Daughter and others launches her seventh novel, published by Goose Lane Editions, on Thursday at 7 p.m. at McNally Robinson Booksellers’ Grant Park location, where she’ll be joined in conversation with Charlene Diehl.

For an interview with Sweatman, see Wednesday’s Free Press.

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While Winnipeg Swampy Cree author David A. Robertson might not have made the short list for the 2026 Hans Christian Anderson author award, presented by the International Board on Books for Young People (IBBY), the jury felt moved to recommend one of his books on the “Jury recommends” list.

Robertson’s 2011 book Sugar Falls: A Residential School Story — illustrated by Scott B. Henderson and Donovan Yaciuk, and published by Highwater Press, an imprint of Portage & Main Press) — was the lone Canadian book on the list of 21 recommended titles from the jury.

Six authors and a half-dozen illustrators remain up for the top two prizes; the winners will be announced on April 13 at the Bologna Children’s Book Fair in Italy.

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Wildly popular American author Sarah J. Maas has announced the next two books in her A Court of Thorns and Roses (ACOTAR) series of fantasy novels.

Maas skyrocketed to literary stardom with her ACOTAR series, which have proven wildly popular in the world of fantasy literature and are particular favourites among the BookTok crowd. Beyond the 2015 book that gives the series its title, other ACOTAR entries include A Court of Mist and Fury, A Court of Silver Flames and A Court of Wings and Ruin.

The sixth and seventh books were recently announced on the Call Her Daddy podcast; the next book will drop on Oct. 27, and the following entry on Jan. 12, 2027. The titles of the books haven’t been revealed, but it’s a safe bet they’ll be along the lines of A Court of ______ and ______. Maas has also been contracted to write an eighth book.

Following the announcement of Maas’ next two books, Reuters reported that shares in Bloomsbury, the publisher of the ACOTAR books, surged as much as 20 per cent.

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Maria Reva has nabbed another award for her debut novel Endling, which follows three women in Ukraine involved in the mail-order bride industry (and, subsequently, kidnapping) as the 2022 invasion by Russia begins.

On March 5, the Ukraine-born, Vancouver-raised author was announced as the winner of the Gordon Burn Prize, which is named after the late Newcastle upon Tyme author and recognizes “literature that is forward-thinking and fearless in its ambition and execution, often playing with style, pushing boundaries, crossing genres or challenging readers’ expectations.”

The award comes with a £10,000 prize (around $18,000).

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winnipegfreepress.com/bensigurdson