Four literary prizes were given out at the 2026 Prince Edward Island Book Awards on May 24 in Charlottetown.

The provincial book awards, coordinated by the Prince Edward Island Department of Education and Early Years, are presented every two years to recognize excellence in Island books and celebrate the contributions of local literary creators.

The award winners and finalists are listed below:

Children’s Literature

• Sarah Ponakey, Storycatcher and Âhâsiw’s Forest Powwow by Sita MacMillan (Annick Press)

Also shortlisted for the prize: My Little Ogichidaa: An Indigenous Lullaby by Wille Poll (Medicine Wheel Publishing) and The Sandcastle that Jack Built by Judith Graves and illustrated by Maurice Bernard (Acorn Press)

Fiction

• Ken’s Corner by Katie Mac (Acorn Press)

Also shortlisted for the fiction prize: The Baby Train by Stella Shepard (Acorn Press) and The Floating Days by Susan Rodgers (Acorn Press).

Non-Fiction

• Erica Rutherford: Her Lives and Works by Pan Wendt (Goose Lane Editions)

Also shortlisted for the prize: Called by Mother Earth: A Ftehr’s Search for His SOn by Greg F. Naterer (Breakwater Books) and Canada’s Defence Procurement Woes by Jeffrey F. Collins (Palgrave Macmillan/Macmillan Publishers)

Poetry

• The Work by Bren Simmers (Gaspereau Press)

Also shortlisted for the poetry prize: The Geography of Home by Edward MacDonald (Island Studies Press and A Skeptic in Springtime by Brent MacLaine (Island Studies Press)