Clockwise from top left: Julia Elliott (Forrest Clonts), Megha Majumdar (Marco Giugliarelli), Sonya Walger (Kayt Jones), Lee Lai (Bee Elton), and Quiara Alegría Hudes (Emma Pratte).

Five authors have been shortlisted for the 2026 Carol Shields Prize for Fiction.

Montreal-based graphic novelist Lee Lai is the lone Canadian author on this year’s shortlist. Lai was nominated for Cannon (Drawn & Quarterly), a graphic novel whose titular protagonist seems to have destroyed the restaurant she was supposed to be closing for the night. Cannon is the first graphic novel to be shortisted for the prize.

The $150,000 (U.S.) prize, named after the American-born and Canadian-based author Carol Shields, celebrates and promotes the best works of fiction written by women and non-binary writers in Canada and the United States. In addition to a cash prize, the winner will also receive a five-night stay at Fogo Island Inn. The four finalists receive $12,500 (U.S.). This is the fourth year the prize will be awarded.

The shortlisted authors were chosen from a 15-title longlist announced in March. The winning book will be named on June 2 at a ceremony in Toronto.

The selections for this year’s prize were made by a jury of writers comprised of chair Carmen Maria Machado, Ivan Coyote, Cherie Dimaline, Chitra Divakaruni, and Deesha Philyaw.

The shortlisted books are:

• Hellions by Julia Elliott (Tin House)
• The White Hot by Quiara Alegría Hudes (One World/Penguin Random House)
• Cannon by Lee Lai (Drawn & Quarterly)
• A Guardian and a Thief by Megha Majumdar (McClelland & Stewart/Penguin Random House Canada)
• Lion by Sonya Walger (New York Review Books)