2026 Aurora Awards

The 2026 Aurora Awards were announced on Sunday, August 9th, 2025 at 5pm EDT, during a live streaming ceremony on YouTube. You can watch or rewatch it at anytime.

The Winners

  • BEST NOVEL: The Downloaded 2: Ghosts in the Machine, Robert J. Sawyer, Audible Originals/Shadowpaw Press
  • BEST YA NOVEL: Breath of the Dragon, Shannon Lee & Fonda Lee, Wednesday Books
  • BEST NOVELETTE/NOVELLA:  The River Has Roots, Amal El-Mohtar, Tordotcom
  • BEST SHORT STORY: “The Stone Played at Tengen“, R.H. Wesley, Clarkesworld Magazine, Issue 230
  • BEST GRAPHIC NOVEL: Shark Girl, Kate Beaton, Roaring Brook Press
  • BEST POEM/SONG: “From Dust“, J. Y. Zhang, Small Wonders
  • BEST RELATED WORK: Year’s Best Canadian Fantasy and Science Fiction: Volume Three,
    Stephen Kotowych, Editor, Ansible Press
  • BEST COVER ART/INTERIOR ILLUSTRATION: Listen to Me and I’ll tell You a Story, Ejiwa “Edge” Ebenebe, Uncanny Magazine, Issue Sixty-Six
  • BEST FAN WRITING AND PUBLICATION: Polar Starlight Magazine, Issues 17-20, Rhea E. Rose, editor
  • BEST FAN RELATED WORK: Can*Con, Marie Bilodeau, chair and Brandon Crilly, vice-chair, Ottawa

2026 Aurora Awards Press Release with images

Voting Statistics

2026 Aurora results in grids

The Nominees

Best Novel

  • The Bewitching, Silvia Moreno-Garcia, Del Rey
  • Blight, Rachel A. Rosen, The BumblePuppy Press
  • Direct Descendant, Tanya Huff, DAW Books
  • The Downloaded 2: Ghosts in the Machine, Robert J. Sawyer, Audible Originals/Shadowpaw Press
  • Emily Wilde’s Compendium of Lost Tales, Heather Fawcett, Del Rey
  • A Shift of Time, Julie E. Czerneda, DAW Books
  • Written on the Dark, Guy Gavriel Kay, Viking Canada

Best Young Adult Novel

  • Breath of the Dragon, Shannon Lee & Fonda Lee, Wednesday Books
  • Fireboy, Edward Willett, Shadowpaw Press
  • A Lion’s Head, D.M. De Alwis, Ahasae Tharu Publications
  • Minotaur, Jamieson Wolf, Rebel Satori Press
  • One Morning Sun, Avi Silver, Molewhale Press
  • Winging It, Jen Desmarais, Renaissance Press

Best Novelette/Novella

  • The First Thousand Trees, Premee Mohamed, ECW Press
  • “In the Gardener’s Service“, Michèle Laframboise, Asimov’s, July/August
  • “The Lure of Stone“, Silvia Moreno-Garcia, Uncanny Magazine, Issue Sixty-Six
  • A Palace Near the Wind, Ai Jiang, Titan Books
  • The River Has Roots, Amal El-Mohtar, Tordotcom

Best Short Story

  • “Hunted To Extinction“, Premee Mohamed, Gallery Books
  • “I Ain’t Your Doll Face“, Jacqueline Thorpe, Polar Borealis Magazine #33
  • “the love song of house and lake“, Gillian Secord, On Spec Magazine, Issue #133
  • “The Stone Played at Tengen“, R.H. Wesley, Clarkesworld Magazine, Issue 230
  • “What If We Kissed While Sinking a Billionaire’s Yacht?“, Rachel A. Rosen, Antifa Lit Journal, Volume 1

Best Graphic Novel/Comic

  • Atana and the Jade Mermaid, Vivian Zhou, HarperAlley
  • “Bonds of the Forest“, Ally Rom Colthoff, Augur Magazine, Issue 8.3
  • It Never Rains, Kari Maaren, webcomic
  • Questionable Content, Jeph Jacques, webcomic
  • Shark Girl, Kate Beaton, Quill and Quire

Best Poem/Song

  • “At the Spaceport Bar“, Lisa Timpf, Polar Starlight Magazine #17
  • “Bigfoot Farewell“, Carolyn Clink, Cryptids, Kaiju & Corn: Poems and Micro-Stories about Modern Midwest Monsters
  • “Dragon Karaoke“, David Clink, Polar Starlight, Issue #18
  • “Explosive“, Derek Newman-Stille, Polar Starlight #20
  • “flowers without meadow“, Tiffany Morris, Eye to the Telescope #56
  • “From Dust“, J. Y. Zhang, Small Wonders

Best Related Work

  • As the Earth Dreams: Black Canadian Speculative Stories, Terese Mason Pierre, House of Anansi Press
  • Augur Magazine, Issues 8.1-8.3, Kerry C. Byrne, Toria Liao, André Geleynse, Kelley Tai, and Azure Arther
  • On Spec Magazine, Issues #131 – 134, Vol 35, Diane L. Walton, Managing Editor, The Copper Pig Writers’ Society, Publisher
  • One Message Remains, Premee Mohamed, Psychopomp
  • Year’s Best Canadian Fantasy and Science Fiction: Volume Three,Stephen Kotowych, Editor, Ansible Press

Best Cover Art/Interior Illustration

  • Dancing With the Holly King, Janice Blaine, On Spec Magazine, Issue #134
  • Seance, Alice M., Heartlines Spec, Issue7
  • Lunar Base, Dan O’Driscoll, On Spec Magazine, Issue #132
  • Starship Librarians, Lorna Antoniazzi, Tyche Books Ltd.
  • Listen to Me and I’ll tell You a Story, Ejiwa “Edge” Ebenebe, Uncanny Magazine, Issue Sixty-Six

Best Fan Writing and Publication

  •  Amazing Stories online columns, Numbers 405-420, Steve Fahnestalk, AmazingStories.com
  • Book Reviews in The Ottawa Review of Books, Robert Runté
  • Polar Starlight Magazine, Issues 17-20, Rhea E. Rose, editor
  • Speculative Poetry and the Hugos, Lynne Sargent, Strange Horizons
  • Young People Read Old Science Fiction, James Davis Nicoll, online

Best Fan Related Work

  • Can*Con, Marie Bilodeau, chair and Brandon Crilly, vice-chair, Ottawa
  • Scintillation, Jo Walton and Rene Walling, co-chairs, Montreal
  • Two Old Farts Talk Sci-Fi, Troy Harkin and David Clink, podcast
  • Wizards & Spaceships, Rachel A. Rosen and David L. Clink, podcast, Night Beats
  • The Worldshapers Podcast, Edward Willett

Version 1.0, April 20, 2026