Amazon Canada and The Walrus have announced that Maria Reva, author of Endling (Knopf Canada), is the winner of the 2026 Amazon Canada First Novel Award, marking the prize’s 50th year. Reva was announced as the winner during the in-person ceremony on June 4, 2026, at the Globe and Mail Centre in Toronto.

A darkly comic novel, Endling draws on Reva’s own experiences as a Ukrainian expat tracking her family’s delicate dance of survival behind enemy lines. As fiction and reality collide on the page, she probes the hard truths of war: What stories must we tell ourselves to survive? Once shattered, can our sense of normalcy and security ever be restored?

Reva’s book was chosen from a shortlist of six works, which also included the following novels:

 
Reva took home the $60,000 prize, while each shortlisted novelist received a $6,000 prize.

All of the books, including the winning novel, are available in print at amazon.ca/fna. I Remember Lights is also available in Kindle editions, while Property, Black Cherokee, Small Ceremonies, and Endling are available in both Kindle and audiobook formats through Audible.

Nandini Parihar Wins the Youth Short Story Category
Now in its ninth year, the Youth Short Story category celebrates authors between the ages of thirteen and seventeen who have written a short story under 3,000 words. Seventeen-year-old Nandini Parihar was chosen as the winner by the panel of judges. The prize for her winning short story, “Space Between Certainties,” is $5,000, and her story will be published in The Walrus magazine and on thewalrus.ca later this year.

Parihar’s story was chosen from a shortlist of six short stories, which also included the following:

  • Lara Chamoun, “The Smallest Rattlesnake under the Skin”
  • Jenna Currey, “Threadbox”
  • Clementine Dempsey-Hall, “Bad Day for Saint Cheerful”
  • Rocco Notroff-Tomlinson, “Count”
  • Rowan Soley, “Rot”

 
Each shortlisted author has been awarded $500, and their stories will appear on thewalrus.ca in the coming months.

The Amazon Canada First Novel Award represents Amazon Canada’s commitment to amplifying new voices who are defining Canada’s literary identity. These debut authors’ works span diverse genres and perspectives, reflecting the rich cultural mosaic of Canadian storytelling. By recognizing these emerging talents, Amazon Canada acknowledges the remarkable creativity found in first-time novelists across the country.
 
Since its establishment in 1976, the First Novel Award program has launched the careers of some of Canada’s most prestigious authors. Previous winners include Michael Ondaatje, Joan Barfoot, Joy Kogawa, W.P. Kinsella, Nino Ricci, Rohinton Mistry, Michael Redhill, Katherena Vermette, Casey Plett, Michelle Good, Alicia Elliott, and last year’s winner, Valérie Bah.
 
For more information about the winners and finalists and the Amazon Canada First Novel Award, visit amazon.ca/firstnovelaward or thewalrus.ca/afna.