2026 CBC Short Story Prize Finalists Announced

2026 CBC Short Story Prize Finalists Announced

• Five finalists have been chosen from nearly 3,000 entries from across the country.
• The grand prize winner, to be announced May 7, will receive $6,000 from the Canada Council for the Arts and a writing residency at Banff Centre for Arts and Creativity.

April 30, 2026 – CBC Books, CBC’s online home for literary content, together with its partners the Canada Council for the Arts and Banff Centre for Arts and Creativity, have announced the finalists for the 2026 CBC Short Story Prize.

The finalists are:

• Pattern Recognition by Amber Allen (Guelph, Ont.)
• Anniversary by Kate Cayley (Toronto)
• A Season of Crows by Larah Luna (Vancouver)
• How to Break Up with a Monster by Carrie Mac (Vancouver)
• Low Water by Andy Stefan (Ottawa)

The entries were selected from nearly 3,000 submissions received from across Canada. The shortlisted entries are available on cbcbooks.ca. The winner of this year’s prize will be announced on Thursday, May 7.

The 2026 CBC Shot Story Prize jurors are Maria Reva, Terry Fallis and Tracey Lindberg.

The grand prize winner will receive a cash prize of $6,000 from the Canada Council for the Arts, a two-week writing residency at Banff Centre for Arts and Creativity and will be published on cbcbooks.ca. The four other finalists will each receive $1,000 from the Canada Council for the Arts and will be published on cbcbooks.ca.

The complete CBC Short Story Prize shortlist and more information on the CBC Literary Prizes are available now.