The Book Publishers Association of Alberta (BPAA) has announced the 2026 shortlists for the annual Alberta Book Publishing Awards.

The awards, which encompass trade and academic publishing, and include design awards, celebrate the best in Alberta publishing in 14 categories – shortlists have been announced in 12 of those categories.

The juries for the prizes are composed of book industry professionals from across Canada.

The winners will be announced at the Alberta Book Publishing Awards Gala in Edmonton on Sept. 17.

The Mystery and Thriller Book of the Year and the Mel Hurtig Publisher of the Year also will be announced at the awards ceremony.

In addition to the various awards, the Lifetime Achievement in Alberta Publishing Award will be handed out to two individuals who have “positively impacted the province’s book publishing community through their leadership, commitment to excellence, and steadfast belief in the importance of Alberta stories.”

The shortlisted titles are:

Trade Fiction Book of the Year

• Graveyard Shift at the Lemonade Stand by Tim Bowling (Freehand Books)
• A Story Can Be Told About Pain by Lisa Martin (NeWest Press)
• Rag Pickers by Blaine Newton (University of Calgary Press)

 Trade Non-Fiction Book of the Year

• My Works, Ye Mighty by Christian Bök (Athabasca University Press)
• The Road to Shiloh by Leander K. Lane (Brush Education)
• How to Breathe Water by Sharon Butala (Freehand Books)
• Crossing Into Canada: Stories from Two Generations of US War Resisters by Alison Mountz, ed. (University of Alberta Press)

Robert Kroetsch Award for Poetry

• Breaking Into Blossom by Anna Yin (Frontenac House)
• There’s Magic Here Too: A Trans Woman’s Guide to Being Monstrous by Skylar Kay (Frontenac House)
• Bonememory by Anna Veprinska (University of Calgary Press)
• What is Broken Binds Us by Lorne Daniel (University of Calgary Press)

Douglas Barbour Award for Speculative Fiction

• The Scrolls of Bishop Eubulus, and Other Stories by Rebecca Bradley (EDGE Science Fiction and Fantasy Publishing)
• The Longest Night by Lauren Carter (Freehand Books)
• The Moon the Sun Forgot by B.J. Wagner (Mythic Roads Press)
• The Last Band on Earth by Elaine M. Will (Renegade Arts Entertainment)

Children’s and Young Adult Book of the Year

• Spirit Rider: A Lillian Indigenous Mystery by Lynda Partridge and Dave Nicholson, ill. (Durvile & UpRoute)
• I’m Singh Hari by Kelly Kaur and Ravina Kaur Toor, ill. (Red Barn Books)

Graphic Novel of the Year

• The Last Band on Earth by Elaine M. Will (Renegade Arts Entertainment)
• Pass Me By: Lily by Kat Simmers and Ryan Danny Owen (Renegade Arts Entertainment)

Scholarly and Academic Book of the Year

• Cartographic Poetry: Examining Historic Blackfoot and Gros Ventre Maps by Ted Binnema, François Lanoë, and Heinz W. Pyszczyk (University of Alberta Press)
• Behind the Bricks: The Life and Times of the Mohawk Institute, Canada’s Longest-Running Residential School by Richard W. Hill Sr., Alison Norman, Thomas Peace, and Jennifer Pettit, ed. (University of Calgary Press)
• The Boom: Oil, Popular Culture, and Politics in Alberta, 1912-1924 by Paul Chastko (University of Calgary Press)
• Where Histories Meet: Indigenous and Settler Encounters in the Toronto Area by Victoria Freeman (University of Calgary Press)

Regional Book of the Year

• Cruising the Downtown: Celebrating Edmonton’s Queer History by The Edmonton Queer History Project by Kristopher Wells, ed. (NeWest Press)
• Mountain Voices: The Mountain Legacy Project and a Century of Change in Western Canada, Eric Higgs, Zac Robinson, Mary Sanseverino, and Kristen Walsh, eds. (University of Calgary Press)

• Feminist Pedagogy for Teaching Online by Jacquelyne Thoni Howard, Enilda Romero-Hall, Clare Daniel, Niya Bond, and Liv Newman, eds. (Athabasca University Press)
• Elements of Indigenous Style, 2nd Ed. by Gregory Younging; Warren Cariou, Deanna Reder, Lorena Sekwan Fontaine, and Jordan Abel eds. (Brush Education)
• Humanitarian and Compassionate Considerations in Canadian Immigration Law by Raj Napal (Brush Education)
• Reading and Writing Bush Cree: sakâw nîhiyawîwin ayamihcikîwin ikwa masinahikîwin by Connie Twin and Tanya Larissa Fontaine (Brush Education)

Book Cover Design of the Year

• My Works, Ye Mighty by Christian Bök, designed by Natalie Olsen, Kisscut Design (Athabasca University Press)
• Canada Unscripted: Conversations with Canadian Media Icons by Vic Sarin, ed.; designed by Austin Andrews (Durvile & UpRoute)
• Shelter in Text: Essays on Dwelling and Refuge by Myra Bloom and Kasia Van  Schaik, eds.; designed by Alan Brownoff (University of Alberta Press)

Book Illustration of the Year

• The Last Band on Earth by Elaine M. Will (Renegade Arts Entertainment)
• Pass Me By: Lily by Kat Simmers, Ryan Danny Owen, and Kat Simmers, ill. (Renegade Arts Entertainment)
• Modern Asian Family: Straight Outta Busan by Stefano Jun (Renegade Arts Entertainment)

Book Design of the Year

• My Works, Ye Mighty by Christian Bök, designed by Natalie Olsen, Kisscut Design (Athabasca University Press)
• The Longest Night by Lauren Carter; designed by Natalie Olsen, Kisscut Design (Freehand Books)
• Cruising the Downtown: Celebrating Edmonton’s Queer History by The Edmonton Queer History Project by Kristopher Wells, ed.; designed by Natalie Olsen, Kisscut Design (NeWest Press)
• Cartographic Poetry: Examining Historic Blackfoot and Gros Ventre Maps by Ted Binnema, François Lanoë, and Heinz W. Pyszczyk, designed by Alan Brownoff (University of Alberta Press)