Today, the Ursula K. Le Guin Foundation announced the shortlist for the 2026 Ursula K. Le Guin Prize for Fiction, a $25,000 prize given annually to the author of a book that reflects the concepts and ideas that were central to Le Guin’s own work.
The foundation’s selected finalists are below. A panel of authors—Nicola Griffith, Mat Johnson, Fonda Lee, Darcie Little Badger, and Peter Rock—will select the final prize winner, which will be announced on Le Guin’s birthday: October 21, 2026.
Here are the nine books shortlisted:
- Audition by Pip Adam (Coffee House Press)
- Sunward by William Alexander (Saga Press)
- Call and Response by Christopher Caldwell (Neon Hemlock)
- Midnight Timetable by Bora Chung, translated by Anton Hur (Algonquin)
- The Works of Vermin by Hiron Ennes (Tor Books)
- Notes from a Regicide by Isaac Fellman (Tor Books)
- Mad Sisters of Esi by Tashan Mehta (DAW Books)
- One Message Remains by Premee Mohamed (Psychopomp)
- Slow Gods by Claire North (Orbit)
Since 2022, the Ursula K. Le Guin Prize for Fiction has recognized authors who are “realists of a larger reality, who can imagine real grounds for hope and see alternatives to how we live now.” Last year, Rakesfall by Vajra Chandrasekera won the prize.
Congratulations to all those recognized!
