The Carol Shields Prize for Fiction honors women and non-binary authors in English-language literature from the U.S. and Canada
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This year's longlist includes 15 works spanning novels, short story collections and graphic novels
The winner receives $150,000, a retreat residency and a stay at Fogo Island Inn in Canada
TheCarol Shields Prize for Fictionhas announced this year's longlist.
Named in honor of Pulitzer Prize-winning author ofThe Stone Diaries,Carol Shields, the Prize is the first and largest English-language literary prize for women and non-binary writers in the world and "aims to address continued inequality in the literary world," according to an official description.
Longlist selections — comprised of novels, short story collections and graphic novels written by authors from the U.S. and Canada — are chosen by a panel of writers. This year's panel includes Carmen Maria Machado, Ivan Coyote, Cherie Dimaline, Chitra Divakaruni and Deesha Philyaw.
Today, PEOPLE can exclusively reveal the 15 nominees for 2026.
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The Edge of Water by Olufunke Grace Bankole
Sea, Poison by Caren Beilin
milktooth by Jaime Burnet
Suddenly Light by Nina Dunic
Canticle by Janet Rich Edwards
Hellions by Julia Elliott
Casualties of Truth by Lauren Francis-Sharma
The White Hot by Quiara Alegría Hudes
Audition by Katie Kitamura
Cannon by Lee Lai
Wild Life by Amanda Leduc
A Guardian and a Thief by Megha Majumdar
The Morgue Keeper by Ruyan Meng
The Sea Gives Up the Dead by Molly Olguín
Lion by Sonya Walger
"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," said Machado, in a press release shared with PEOPLE.
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Five finalists will be selected for the Carol Shields Prize for Fiction shortlist on April 21 and the winner will be announced at a live event in Toronto, ON, on June 2.
The winning prize includes a five-night stay at Fogo Island Inn, an invitation to a group retreat residency in the Leighton Artist Studios, Banff Centre for Arts and Creativity in Alberta, Canada and $150,000. The four finalists will also be invited to the retreat and will each receive $12,500.
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