New slate of Kanata Classics titles incoming

The Kanata Classics series of book titles is slated to double in size when the six newest volumes land at better booksellers on Tuesday.

The series features previously published titles repackaged and with new introductions, and aims to “bring a balance of Indigenous and non-Indigenous voices into provocative and nuanced dialogue with one another.” The first half-dozen titles launched in July 15, 2025, and included work by Jordan Abel, Kim Thúy, Marian Engel and others.

The forthcoming titles in the second run include Billy-Ray Belcourt’s This Wound is a World, Gabrielle Roy’s The Tin Flute, Richard Wagamese’s Starlight (featuring an introduction by Winnipeg’s Shelagh Rogers), André Alexis’ Childhood, Maria Campbell’s Little Badger and the Fire Spirit and Omar El Akkad’s American War.

For more on the series, see wfp.to/kanataclassics.

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Toronto-born, Regina-based mystery writer Gail Bowen has died of cancer at age 83.

Bowen, who died on June 25, was the author of dozens of books, most notably the popular Joanne Kilbourn mystery novels. The Kilbourn books were primarily set in Saskatchewan and followed the title character, a university prof and political analyst who often became involved in criminal investigations.

Bowen’s final Kilbourn book, Homecoming, will be published posthumously by ECW Press. Her most recent Kilbourn novel, The Solitary Friend, was published in October 2025.

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The finalists for the 2026 Sunburst Award for Excellence in Canadian Literature of the Fantastic have been revealed, with the winner of the $3,000 prize slated to be announced in the fall.

The shortlisted titles are The Works of Vermin by Hiron Ennes, Horsefly by Mireille Gagné (translated by Pablo Strauss), Wild Life by Amanda Leduc, The Lady, the Tiger and the Girl Who Loved Death by Helen Marshall (Titan Books) and Veal by Mackenzie Nolan.

The 2025 award, which saw the prize return after a four-year absence, went to Nalo Hopkinson for the novel Blackheart Man.

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On the science fiction front, meanwhile, on July 2 a trio of authors were announced as the latest inductees into the Canadian Science Fiction and Fantasy Association’s Hall of Fame.

This year’s inductees were all Ontario writers and included prolific author Kelley Armstrong, James Alan Gardner and Mike Glicksohn, who died in 2011 and was inducted posthumously.

Inductees are given a plaque and their names are engraved on a trophy — for more on the three authors see wfp.to/iM1.

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A deluxe hardcover edition of Rachel Reid’s runaway bestseller Heated Rivalry is coming this fall, and the author is taking her show on the road — although Winnipeg isn’t included on the list of Canadian dates (at least so far).

Reid’s queer hockey romance novel was made into the wildly popular series helmed by Jacob Tierney for Crave; filming for the second season is about to get started in Montreal and Toronto.

Reid is stopping in Montreal, Vancouver, Ottawa and Toronto on her fall tour, as well as a handful of U.S. cities. The new hardcover edition features “gold sprayed edges, stamped foil casing and full-colour character art endpapers” and will be released Sept. 29 (but is available to pre-order now).

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The 2026 Joseph S. Stauffer Prize, which honours emerging or mid-career artists in three categories (literature, music and visual arts), has named Clémence Dumas-Côté the winner in the literary category.

The Quebec-based Dumas-Côté is the author of one novel as well as four books of poetry and receives $5,000 as part of the prize, which is administered by the Canada Council for the Arts. Her most recent poetry collection to be translated into English is 2025’s The Seated Woman.

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The visual art prize went to Kosisochukwu Nnebe, while the music prize went to Aquakultre.

winnipegfreepress.com/bensigurdson