2026 Ursula K. Le Guin Prize Shortlist Announced — Nine Books in Contention

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The Ursula K. Le Guin Foundation has announced the shortlist for the Ursula K. Le Guin Prize for Fiction , which annually awards $25,000 to the author of a book who best represents the legendary writer’s literary, moral, and aesthetic ideals : “realists of a larger reality, who can imagine real grounds for hope and see alternatives to how we live now.”

The nine books on the 2026 shortlist were selected by the Foundation after a public voting process:

Pip Adam, Audition (Coffee House Press)

William Alexander, Sunward (Saga Press)

Christopher Caldwell, Call and Response (Neon Hemlock)

Bora Chung, tr. Anton Hur, Midnight Timetable (Algonquin)

Hiron Ennes, The Works of Vermin (Tor Books)

Isaac Fellman, Notes from a Regicide (Tor Books)

Tashan Mehta, Mad Sisters of Esi (DAW Books)

Premee Mohamed, One Message Remains (Psychopomp)

Claire North, Slow Gods (Orbit)

The winner of this year’s prize will be chosen by a panel consisting of Nicola Griffith, Mat Johnson, Fonda Lee, Darcie Little Badger, and Peter Rock, and announced on October 21 (which is also Le Guin’s birthday).