Amazon Canada First Novel Award finalists, clockwise from top left: Maria Reva (Anna Pidgorna); Kate Cayley (Livia Ambros); Jon Claytor; Kyle Edwards (Jemimah Wei); Antonio Michael Downing (Jonathan Adediji); Ben Ladouceur.

Six novelists have been shortlisted for the 2026 Amazon Canada First Novel Award.

The Walrus and Amazon Canada announced the six-book shortlist on May 6. The annual $60,000 award recognizes the talent and contributions of debut Canadian novelists. Each finalist will receive $6,000, with the winner to be announced at a ceremony in Toronto on June 4, with special guest speaker author Lawrence Hill.

The shortlisted authors are:

• Kate Cayley, Property (Coach House Books)
• Jon Claytor, Nowhere (Goose Lane Editions)
• Antonio Michael Downing, Black Cherokee (Scribner Canada/Simon & Schuster Canada)
• Kyle Edwards, Small Ceremonies (McClelland & Stewart/Penguin Random House Canada)
• Ben Ladouceur, I Remember Lights (Book*hug Press)
• Maria Reva, Endling (Knopf Canada/Penguin Random House Canada)

The award was first granted in 1976, and previous winners have included Michael Ondaatje, Joan Barfoot, Joy Kogawa, W. P. Kinsella, Nino Ricci, Rohinton Mistry, and last year’s winner, Valérie Bah.

The winner of the 2026 Amazon Canada Youth Short Story contest will also be announced on June 4. Six authors aged 13 to 17 were named finalists for the $5,000 prize.