Amanda Leduc, Katie Kitamura among 15 authors longlisted for Carol Shields Prize

TORONTO — Books by Amanda Leduc, Megha Majumdar and Katie Kitamura are among the 15 titles longlisted for the Carol Shields Prize for Fiction.

The US$150,000 award is the world’s largest literary purse for English-language books by women and non-binary writers, and it’s open to American and Canadian authors.

Hamilton-based Leduc made the list for her novel “Wild Life,” while Majumdar is longlisted for “A Guardian and a Thief” and Kitamura’s book “Audition” is in the running.

Also on the long list are “The Edge of Water” by Olufunke Grace Bankole, “Sea, Poison” by Caren Beilin and “milktooth” by Jaime Burnet of Halifax.

“Suddenly Light” by Toronto’s Nina Dunic is longlisted, along with “Canticle” by Janet Rich Edwards, “Hellions” by Julia Elliott and “Casualties of Truth” by Lauren Francis-Sharma.

Rounding out the long list are “The White Hot” by Quiara Alegría Hudes, “Cannon” by Montreal-based Lee Lai, “The Morgue Keeper” by Ruyan Meng, “The Sea Gives Up the Dead” by Molly Olguin and “Lion” by Sonya Walger.

The short list is due to be announced April 21, and the prize will be handed out at a ceremony in Toronto on June 2.

This report by The Canadian Press was first published March 10, 2026.