The Sunburst Award Society is pleased to announce the shortlist for the 2026 Award. We are delighted that the five-book shortlist highlights the scope and stellar quality of contemporary Canadian literature of the fantastic published in 2025.
The shortlisted works:
Ennes, Hiron – The Works of Vermin (Tor Publishing Group)
The jurors selected this work for its rich, baroque language, exquisite worldbuilding, and the trust it places in its readers. Blending secondary world fantasy and horror and featuring complex characters, The Works of Vermin stood out as a title unlike any other – one that felt immersive, unique, and sure to linger in readers’ minds.
Gagné, Mireille (translated by Strauss, Pablo) – Horsefly (Coach House Books)
This visceral and atmospheric eco-horror novel set in Quebec tells the tale of the historical ripples made by the carelessness of the Military-Industrial Complex: Biological weapons, climate change and a very hungry horsefly searching for blood. Gagné’s ability to build the narrative by shifting perspectives stood out to the jury. What other novel allows you to inhabit the consciousness of a horsefly?
Leduc, Amanda — Wild Life (Penguin Random House Canada)
Wild Life is a novel that abounds with the sort of fantastical details most often found in fairy tales, fables and folk songs. Leduc uses walking, talking hyenas to explore religious zealotry and the artificial division between human and animal. Wild Life also aptly integrates persistent themes of disability, and namely, how disability relates to the structures of the stories we tell. To transcend the body is to deny the body. To be human is to feel, whether we like it or not-and Wild Life is by turns both devastating and exhilarating.
Marshall, Helen – The Lady, the Tiger and the Girl Who Loved Death (Titan Books)
A layered novel that weaves together multiple time periods and brings in elements of mythology and fairy tales to tell a dark and satisfying story. This title stood out for its beautiful language and its effective exploration of the cyclical nature of history, violence, and war, but also hope and perseverance.
Nolan, Mackenzie – Veal (ECW Press)
This title stood out for its strong characters and its effective exploration of violence against women – how it’s perceived, received, and often dismissed and ignored. Nolan threads the story with just the right level of doubt to keep readers wondering whether the monster at the heart of the novel is real, while layering in themes of friendship, desire, obsession, and darkness.
The 2026 Sunburst Award jurors are distinguished authors A.G. Pasquella, Daniel Perry, and A.C. Wise. Over 100 books were submitted for consideration for the award.
Named after the first novel by Phyllis Gotlieb, also known as the mother of Canadian science fiction and a celebrated Governor General’s Award-nominated poet, The Sunburst Award for Excellence in Canadian Literature of the Fantastic is a unique juried award that has recognized and honoured over 225 works of exceptional Canadian speculative literature since its inception in 2001.
The winner of the $3,000 award will be announced in the fall.
