The ceremonies for the Nova Scotia and Atlantic Book Awards both take place during the weeklong Atlantic Book Awards Festival, May 28 to June 4. The festival features a range of online and in-person events with the authors shortlisted for the provincial and regional awards, which collectively are worth more than $60,000. The shortlisted books are selected by independent juries for each award; however, it’s the general public who will determine the winner of the Atlantic Independent Booksellers Readers’ Choice Award.
The nominees for the 2026 Nova Scotia Book Awards are:
Dartmouth Book Award for Fiction
- Renée Belliveau, A Sense of Things Beyond, Vagrant Press
- Robert de la Chevotière, We Were Not Kings, Little A
- Danica Roache, Five Seasons of Charlie Francis, Vagrant Press
Evelyn Richardson Non-Fiction Award
- Jessie Harrold, Mothershift: Reclaiming Motherhood as a Rite of Passage, Shambhala Publications Inc
- Halina St. James, The Golden Daughter, House of Anansi Press
- Marjorie Simmins, In Search of Puffins: Stories of Loss, Light, and Flight, Pottersfield Press
Margaret and John Savage First Book Award, Fiction
- Danica Roache, Five Seasons of Charlie Francis, Vagrant Press
- Julie K Strong, The Tudor Prophecy, OC Publishing
- Brenda Tyedmers, Mrs. Walford, Self-published
Margaret and John Savage First Book Award, Non-Fiction
- Ken Hynes, Service and Sacrifice, Nimbus Publishing
- James MacDuff & Mirriam Mweemba, The Illogical Adventure, A Memoir of Love and Fate, Pottersfield Press
- Jo-Ann Roberts, Storm the Ballot Box, Nimbus Publishing
Double Nominee! You read that right. Five Seasons of Charlie Francis by Danica Roache has earned two nominations for Nova Scotia Book Awards!
The NSBAs will be presented on Monday, June 1, at Brightwood Golf & Country Club in Dartmouth in a ceremony hosted by Juanita Peters that will also be live-streamed. Tickets are $15 in advance and $20 at the door. Get tickets here >>
The Atlantic Book Awards are open to writers from all four Atlantic provinces. The books shortlisted this year are a testament to the incredible diversity and richness of Atlantic Canadian literature.
Here are the 2026 Atlantic Book Awards nominees:
Alistair MacLeod Award for Short Fiction
- Geoff Butler, We, the Ancestors, Self-published
- Shelley Thompson, Winter Sky, Vagrant Press
- Heidi Wicks, Here, Breakwater Books
Ann Connor Brimer Award for Atlantic Canadian Children’s Literature
- Charis Cotter, The Mystery of the Haunted Dance Hall, Tundra Books
- Jacqueline Halsey, Joe and the Wreck of the Tribune, Nimbus Publishing
- Melanie Mosher, Bertie Stewart is Perfectly Imperfect, Nimbus Publishing
- Willie Poll, Our Ancestor’s Kitchen, Annick Press
- Lauren Soloy, The Newest Gnome, Tundra Books
APMA Best Atlantic-Published Book Award
- Goose Lane Editions, Erica Rutherford, by Pan Wendt
- Breakwater Books, Just Around the Corner, by Yvonne Rumbolt-Jones
- Breakwater Books, Openly Karl, by Karl Wells
J.M. Abraham Atlantic Poetry Award
- Leigh Faulkner, Yes Is The Only Word the Earth Understands, Owl’s Head Press
- Sue Goyette, Future Howl, Gaspereau Press
- Natalie Rice, Nightjar, Gaspereau Press
- Rebecca Salazar, antibody, McClelland & Stewart
- Christine Wu, Familial Hungers, Brick Books
Thomas Raddall Atlantic Fiction Award
- Renée Belliveau, A Sense of Things Beyond, Vagrant Press
- Jaime Burnet, milktooth, Vagrant Press
- Robert de la Chevotière, We Were Not Kings, Little A
- Danny Jacobs, The Ignis Psalter, Porcupine’s Quill
- Danica Roache, Five Seasons of Charlie Francis, Vagrant Press
More double nominees! Both A Sense of Things Beyond by Renée Belliveau, published by Vagrant Press and We Were Not Kings by Robert de la Chevotière, published by Little A, are nominated for BOTH the Dartmouth Book Award for Fiction and the Thomas Raddall Atlantic Fiction Award. Five Seasons of Charlie Francis by Danica Roache, published by Vagrant Press, gets a third nomination, on the shortlist for not only the Dartmouth Book Award for Fiction and the Margaret and John Savage First Book Award, Fiction, but also the Thomas Raddall Atlantic Fiction Award.
Congratulations to all the nominees! Let’s get reading!
On Thursday, June 4, the four Atlantic book awards will be presented, including one of Canada’s biggest book prizes, the Thomas Raddall Atlantic Fiction Award, valued at $30,000. The Atlantic Book Awards gala also includes presentations of the Atlantic Legacy Award and the Atlantic Independent Booksellers Readers’ Choice Award, now in its third year and with a new name. The Atlantic Independent Booksellers have joined us to sponsor this award, which now comes with a cash prize of $1,000. The Readers’ Choice Award is open to any Atlantic Canadian book published in 2025 (that is, any book written or published by an Atlantic Canadian) of any and all genres and languages. We’re accepting submissions now. Head over to our website for more info! Submit here >>
The Atlantic Book Awards gala takes place at 7 p.m. in Paul O’Regan Hall at Halifax Central Library, with CBC Radio host Portia Clark as emcee. The awards ceremony will also be live-streamed so book lovers across the region and beyond can join in the celebration. Get tickets here >>