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Just in time for summer reading, City of Toronto and Toronto Public Library have announced the longlist for the 2026 Toronto Book Awards, recognizing authors whose works capture the spirit, history, people and places of Toronto.
The 2026 longlist includes:
- Black Public Joy: No Permit or Permission Required by Jay Pitter (McClelland & Stewart)
- Book of Lives: A Memoir of Sorts by Margaret Atwood (McClelland & Stewart)
- Cherry Beach by Don Gillmor (Biblioasis)
- Fatal Confession: A Girl’s Murder, a Man’s Execution, and the Fitton Case by Carolyn Strange (UBC Press)
- Good Guys by Sharon Bala (McClelland & Stewart)
- Housing for All: How Toronto Built the St. Lawrence Neighbourhood by Frank Lewinberg and Vincenzo Pietropaolo (Cormorant Books)
- juniper by Kerri Huffman (Frontenac House)
- The Paper Birds by Jeanette Lynes (HarperAvenue)
- Precarious: The Lives of Migrant Workers by Marcello Di Cintio (Biblioasis)
- Property by Kate Cayley (Coach House Books)
- Tyson’s Song by Peter N. Bailey (Playwrights Canada Press)
- Where Histories Meet: Indigenous and Settler Encounters in the Toronto Area by Victoria Freeman (University of Calgary Press)
- You Started It by Jackie Khalilieh (Tundra Books)
Readers can explore and borrow longlisted titles through Toronto Public Library’s curated Toronto Book Awards longlist 2026 collection .
A shortlist of five finalists will be released in September. The winner will be revealed at an awards ceremony at the Toronto Reference Library on Tuesday, November 10. Last year, the City doubled the prize amount. The winning author will be awarded $20,000, while the remaining shortlisted finalists will each receive $2,000.
About the Toronto Book Awards
The Toronto Book Awards honours authors whose books are inspired by the city. Established in 1974, the awards celebrate literary excellence and recognize works that deepen understanding of Toronto’s people, places, histories and diverse communities.
This year’s jury brings together an accomplished group of award-winning writers, publishing professionals, educators and literary advocates from across Toronto’s literary community, including author and poet Jake Byrne, novelist and non-fiction writer Kristen den Hartog, literary agent Julia Kim, educator, anti-racism advocate and writer Matthew R. Morris and poet, translator and curator Bänoo Zan.
More information about the award is available on the City’s Toronto Book Awards webpage.
SOURCE City of Toronto
