Nina Dunic; Canisia Lubrin (Anna Keenan); Rick Westhead.

Books by writers Nina Dunic, Rick Westhead, and Canisia Lubrin are among the titles named as finalists for the 2026 Trillium Book Awards

The shortlists, announced today by Ontario Creates, include 16 books in French and English across four categories.

The annual awards, now in their 39th year, recognize literary excellence in Ontario writers who work in both French and English. Winning authors of the Trillium Book Award and Prix Trillium receive $20,000, while winning poets of the Trillium Book Award for Poetry receive $10,000. Winning authors of the French-language prize for best children’s book receive $10,000. Publishers of the winning titles receive support to promote and market the winning books.

Previous winners include Stuart Ross, Souvankham Thammavongsa, Dionne Brand, and last year’s winners, Maurice Vellekoop, Jake Byrne, Aristote Kavungu, and Mireille Messier.

Dunic was the winner of the Trillium Book Award in 2024, and Lubrin, shortlisted for Trillium Book Award for Poetry, was a finalist for last year’s Trillium Book Award.

The winners will be announced on June 10.

Trillium Book Award

• Suddenly Light by Nina Dunic (Invisible Publishing)
• We, The Kindling by Otoniya J. Okot Bitek (Alchemy by Knopf Canada/Penguin Random House Canada)
• You Will Not Kill Our Imagination: A Memoir of Palestine and Writing in Dark Times by Saeed Teebi (Scribner Canada/Simon & Schuster Canada)
• We Breed Lions: Confronting Canada’s Troubled Hockey Culture by Rick Westhead (Random House Canada)
• Julie Chan Is Dead by Liann Zhang (Simon & Schuster Canada)

Trillium Book Award for Poetry

• Shadow Price by Farah Ghafoor (House of Anansi Press)
• The World After Rain by Canisia Lubrin (McClelland & Stewart/Penguin Random House Canada)
• Revolutions by Hajer Mirwali (Talonbooks)