The Rakuten Kobo Emerging Writer Prize

The 2026 Emerging Writer Prize shortlists announced!

With the Emerging Writer Prize, Rakuten Kobo endeavours to raise the profiles of debut authors by recognizing exceptional books written by first-time Canadian authors in three categories: Literary Fiction, Nonfiction, and one of three types of genre fiction: Romance, Speculative Fiction, or Mystery.

The winners will be announced June 24, 2026. We invite you to get to know the 2026 finalists and judges below.

The 2026 Nonfiction Shortlist

Till We Meet Again: A Canadian in the First World War by Brandon Marriott

Story of Your Mother by Chantal Braganza

The Lobster Trap: The Global Fight for a Seafood on the Brink by Greg Mercer

The Finest Hotel in Kabul: A People's History of Afghanistan by Lyse Doucet

The Work of Our Hands: A Cree Meditation on the Real World by Adrian Sutherland

Arctic Predator: The Crimes of Edward Horne Against Children in Canada's North by Kathleen Lippa

The 2026 Literary Fiction Shortlist

The Pugilist and the Sailor by Nadia Ragbar

Julie Chan Is Dead by Liann Zhang

Palm Meridian by Grace Flahive

The Sapling by Marc Bendavid

Still by Joanna Cockerline

Favourite Daughter by Morgan Dick

The 2026 Speculative Fiction Shortlist

A Seal of Salvage by Clayton B. Smith

We Used to Live Here by Marcus Kliewer

These Memories Do Not Belong to Us by Yiming Ma

How It Works Out by Myriam Lacroix

The Cure for Drowning by Loghan Paylor

Hollow Bamboo by William Seto Ping

Kate Harris, Nonfiction

Kate Harris is the author of Lands of Lost Borders, a national bestseller about cycling the Silk Road that won the 2019 Rakuten Kobo Emerging Writer Prize for Nonfiction, as well as the RBC Taylor Prize, the Edna Staebler Award, the Boardman Tasker Prize, and the Banff Mountain Book Award for Adventure Travel. Her writing has also featured in Granta, The Walrus, Arc Poetry Magazine, and The Georgia Review, with notable mentions in Best American Essays and Best American Travel Writing. A Rhodes scholar with a background in geobiology and the history and philosophy of science, she splits life between Toronto and an off-grid cabin in northernmost British Columbia.

Souvankham Thammavongsa, Literary Fiction

Souvankham Thammavongsa is the author of the short story collection, How to Pronounce Knife, and the novel Pick a Colour. Her stories have won an O. Henry prize and appeared in The New Yorker, The Paris Review, Harper's Magazine, The Atlantic, and Granta.

Natalie Zina Walschots, Speculative Fiction

Natalie Zina Walschots is a writer and game designer. She is the author of Hench, a novel about the mistreated and undervalued employees of supervillains. The direct sequel, Villain, will be released in May 2026. Her work also includes LARP scripts, heavy metal music journalism, video game lore, and weirder things classified as "interactive experiences." She is the author of two books of experimental poetry: Thumbscrews and DOOM: Love Poems for Supervillains. Natalie plays a lot of TTRPGs, participates in a lot of Nordic LARPs, watches a lot of horror movies and reads a lot of speculative fiction. She lives in Nova Scotia with her partner and four morally bankrupt cats.

The 2026 Nonfiction Shortlist

The 2026 Literary Fiction Shortlist

The 2026 Speculative Fiction Shortlist

Kate Harris, Nonfiction

Souvankham Thammavongsa, Literary Fiction

Natalie Zina Walschots, Speculative Fiction