Fourteen books have been longlisted for the 2026 Giller Prize.

Fourteen books have been longlisted for the 2026 Giller Prize.

A shortlist for the annual $100,000 prize will be announced on Oct. 5, with the winner to be named at an event in Toronto on Nov. 16.

This year’s longlist includes six titles from independent Canadian publishers, including a first-ever nomination for Palimpsest Press. Three authors – Michelle Good, Colin McAdam, and Cordelia Strube – have made the prize longlist for the second time, with Patrick deWitt receiving his fourth Giller nomination and Wayne Johnston, his sixth.

The longlisted titles were selected from more than 140 submitted titles by a jury comprised for the first time of independent booksellers: Dan MacDonald and Lori Cheverie from Bookmark in Charlottetown, Halifax, and Fredericton; Danielle McNally and Rupert McNally from Ben McNally Books in Toronto; Carmela Vedar from The Book Wardrobe in Mississauga, Ontario; Sean Librud from Knowledge Bookstore in Brampton, Ontario; Chris Hall from McNally Robinson Booksellers in Winnipeg and Saskatoon, Saskatchewan; Sarah Klassen from Mosaic Books in Kelowna, B.C.; and Jenn Baerg Steyn from Yellowknife Books in Yellowknife.

The longlisted titles are:

• The Winter Witch by Jennifer Chevalier (Simon & Schuster Canada)
• Dodge City by Patrick deWitt (House of Anansi Press)
• The Golden Boy by Patricia Finn (HarperCollins Publishers)
• Wild People Quiet by Tara Gereaux (Scribner Canada/Simon & Schuster Canada) Author profile
• The Unravelling of Ou by Hollay Ghadery (Palimpsest Press) Review
• Eliza Sunshine by Michelle Good (Random House Canada)
• Your Breath in Charcoal by Nicholas Herring (Goose Lane Editions)
• The Small Ones by Nazanine Hozar (Knopf Canada/Penguin Random House Canada)
• The Novice of Holloway Hall by Wayne Johnston (Knopf Canada/PRHC)
• Daphnis and Chloe by Colin McAdam (Biblioasis)
• Cleo Dang Would Rather Be Dead by Mai Nguyen (Simon & Schuster Canada)
• Riverwork by Lisa Robertson (Coach House Books)
• Good People by Patmeena Sabit (Crown/Penguin Random House)
• At Sea in a Sieve by Cordelia Strube (ECW Press)

The Giller Prize announced last month that it had received a $4 million gift from the Hilary and Galen Weston Foundation, a donation that came after the prize’s financial future looked uncertain after the Giller parted ways in early 2025 with longtime lead sponsor Scotiabank.

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