Canadian writer Ivan Coyote, Métis writer Cherie Dimaline on jury for $205K Carol Shields Prize for Fiction

Canadian writer Ivan Coyote and Métis writer Cherie Dimaline are on the five-person jury for the 2026 Carol Shields Prize for Fiction.

They are joined by American writers Chitra Divakaruni, Deesha Philyaw and Carmen Maria Machado, who is the jury chair.

The Carol Shields Prize awards $150,000 US (approx. $204,695 Cdn) to a single work of fiction by a woman or non-binary writer. Each of the four other finalists receives $12,500 US (approx. $16,387 Cdn).

The Carol Shields Prize for Fiction is open to English-language books published in the U.S. or Canada, including translations. Writers must be citizens or permanent residents of Canada or the U.S.

Coyote is a filmmaker, writer and storyteller from Whitehorse. They have written 13 books, including Tomboy Survival Guide, which was longlisted for Canada Reads, Gender Failure, written with Rae Spoon, and most recently, the nonfiction collection of letters and responses, Care Of. They hold an honorary doctorate from Simon Fraser University and currently live in Vancouver.

Dimaline is an author best known for her YA novel The Marrow Thieves. The Marrow Thieves was defended by Jully Black on Canada Reads 2018 and was named one of Time magazine’s top 100 YA novels of all time. It also won the Governor General’s Award and the Kirkus Prize.

Her other books include Red Rooms, The Girl Who Grew a Galaxy, A Gentle Habit, Empire of Wild and Hunting by Stars. She lives in the Georgian Bay Métis Community.

Machado is the author of the memoir In the Dream House and the short story collection Her Body and Other Stories. Her writing has appeared in the New Yorker, the New York Times, Granta and Vogue. She is based in Brooklyn, New York.

Born in India and based in Texas, Divakaruni is the author of 23 books including The Last Queen, Oleander Girl, Mistress of Spices and Independence, which won an American Book Award. She teaches creative writing at the University of Houston.

Philyaw is the author of the short story collection The Secret Lives of Church Ladies, which won the PEN/Faulkner Award, the Story Prize and the LA Times Book Prize for First Fiction. Her debut novel, The True Confessions of First Lady Freeman, will be published in September 2026. She lives in Florida.

The longlist will be revealed on March 10, the shortlist will be announced on April 21 and the winner will be revealed on June 2.

The Carol Shields Prize was founded by Susan Swan, Janice Zawerbny and Don Oravec.

Last year’s winner was Canisia Lubrin for Code Noir.

Shields, the prize’s namesake, was one of Canada’s best-known writers.

Her books include the novels The Stone Diaries, which won the Governor General’s Literary Award for fiction in 1992 and the Pulitzer Prize for fiction in 1993, Larry’s Party and Unless. She died in 2003.