Sunburst Award

The Sunburst Award for Canadian Literature of the Fantastic is an annual literary award given for a speculative fiction novel or a book-length collection, first awarded in 2001. A young adult category was created in 2008, to differentiate from adult works; and a short fiction award as well. The award was on hiatus between 2020 and 2024 and has returned for the 2025 award ^[1] .

History

The name of the award comes from the title of the first novel by Phyllis Gotlieb, Sunburst (1964).

The first award was given out in 2001. The award consists of a cash prize (CA$ 1,000 for novel length work, and CA$ 500 for short stories) and a medallion. The winner is selected by jury; a new jury is struck each year.

On 2 June 2020, the Sunburst Award Society announced the awards were going on a hiatus due to impacts related to COVID-19. ^[2]

In December 2024, the return of the award for 2025 was announced. The cash price was changed to CA$ 3,000 for a novel length work. ^[1]

Winners

General

Prior to 2008, the Sunburst Award was presented in a single category. In later years, it was broken down into two or three categories, including adult, young adult, and short story.

After the 2020-2024 hiatus due to the COVID-19 pandemic, the award seems to have returned to a single category.

General Sunburst Award winners

Year	Author	Result	Result	Ref.
2001	Sean Stewart	Galveston	Winner
2002	Margaret Sweatman	When Alice Lay Down with Peter	Winner
2003	Nalo Hopkinson	Skin Folk	Winner
2004	Cory Doctorow	A Place So Foreign and 8 More	Winner
2005	Geoff Ryman	Air	Winner
2006	Holly Phillips	In the Palace of Repose	Winner
2007	Mark Frutkin	Fabrizio's Return	Winner
2025	Nalo Hopkinson	Blackheart Man	Winner	[3]
	Frankie Barnet	Mood Swings	Finalist	[4]
	Sydney Hegele	Bird Suit	Finalist	[4]
	Canisia Lubrin	Code Noir	Finalist	[4]
	Clayton B. Smith	A Seal of Salvage	Finalist	[4]

Adult

Sunburst Award for Adult Book winners and finalists

Year	Author	Result	Result	Ref.
2008	Nalo Hopkinson	The New Moon's Arms	Winner	[5]
2009	Andrew Davidson	The Gargoyle	Winner	[6] [7]
	Jes Battis	Night Child	Finalist	[7] [8]
	Dave Duncan	The Alchemist’s Code	Finalist	[7] [8]
	Shari Lapena	Things Go Flying	Finalist	[7] [8]
	Jo Walton	Half a Crown	Finalist	[7] [8]
2010	A. M. Dellamonica	Indigo Springs	Winner	[9]
	Charles de Lint	The Mystery of Grace	Finalist	[9] [10]
	Cory Doctorow	Makers	Finalist	[9] [10]
	Karl Schroeder	The Sunless Countries	Finalist	[9] [10]
	Robert Charles Wilson	Julian Comstock: A Story of 22nd-Century America	Finalist	[9] [10]
2011	Guy Gavriel Kay	Under Heaven	Winner	[11] [12]
	Robert J. Sawyer	Watch	Finalist	[12] [13]
	Douglas Smith	Chimerascope	Finalist	[12] [13]
	S. M. Stirling	Taint in the Blood	Finalist	[12] [13]
	Hayden Trenholm	Stealing Home	Finalist	[12] [13]
2012	Geoff Ryman	Paradise Tales	Winner	[14]
	K. V. Johansen	Blackdog	Finalist	[14] [15]
	David Nickle	Eutopia: A Novel of Terrible Optimism	Finalist	[14] [15]
	Ryan Oakley	Technicolor Ultra Mall	Finalist	[14] [15]
	Michael Rowe	Enter, Night	Finalist	[14] [15]
	Caitlin Sweet	The Pattern Scars	Finalist	[14] [15]
2013	Martine Desjardins (trans. by Fred A. Reed and David Homel)	Maleficium	Winner
	Gerard Collins	Finton Moon	Finalist	[16]
	Derryl Murphy	Over the Darkened Landscape	Finalist	[16]
	Emily Schultz	The Blondes	Finalist	[16]
	Rio Youers	Westlake Soul	Finalist	[16]
2014	Ruth Ozeki	A Tale for the Time Being	Winner	[17]
2015	Thomas King	The Back of the Turtle	Winner	[18]
	Nick Cutter	The Troop	Finalist	[18] [19]
	Emily St. John Mandel	Station Eleven	Finalist	[18] [19]
	Jo Walton	My Real Children	Finalist	[18] [19]
	Ian Weir	Will Starling	Finalist	[18] [19]
2016	Gemma Files	Experimental Film	Winner	[20]
	Katherine Fawcett	The Little Washer of Sorrows	Finalist	[20] [21]
	Silvia Moreno-Garcia	Signal to Noise	Finalist	[20] [21]
	Heather O'Neill	Daydreams of Angels	Finalist	[20] [21]
	Robert Charles Wilson	The Affinities	Finalist	[20] [21]
2017	Claire Humphrey	Spells of Blood and Kin	Winner	[22] [23]
	Ami McKay	The Witches of New York	Finalist	[23] [24]
	Sylvain Neuvel	Sleeping Giants	Finalist	[23] [24]
	Jo Walton	Necessity	Finalist	[23] [24]
	Robert Charles Wilson	Last Year	Finalist	[23] [24]
2018	David Demchuk	The Bone Mother	Winner	[25] [26]
	Omar El Akkad	American War	Finalist	[26] [27]
	Terri Favro	Sputnik’s Children	Finalist	[26] [27]
	Fonda Lee	Jade City	Finalist	[26] [27]
	Eden Robinson	Son of a Trickster	Finalist	[26] [27]
2019	Andromeda Romano Lax	Plum Rains	Winner	[28] [29]
	Amber Dawn	Sodom Road Exit	Finalist	[29] [30]
	Kate Heartfield	Armed in Her Fashion	Finalist	[29] [30]
	Rich Larson	Annex	Finalist	[29] [30]
	Eden Robinson	Trickster Drift	Finalist	[29] [30]
2020	Silvia Moreno-Garcia	Gods of Jade and Shadow	Winner	[31] [32]
	Scott R. Jones	Shout Kill Revel Repeat	Finalist	[32]
	Helen Marshall	The Migration	Finalist	[32]
	Karen McBride	Crow Winter	Finalist	[32]
	Richard Van Camp	Moccasin Square Gardens	Finalist	[32]

Short story

The Sunburst Award for Short Story was introduced in 2016.

Sunburst Award for Short Story winners and finalists

Year	Author	Result	Result	Ref.
2016	Catherine A. MacLeod	"Hide and Seek" (Playground of Lost Toys)	Winner	[20]
	Charlotte Ashley	"La Héron" ( F&SF 3-4/15)	Finalist	[20] [21]
	Rebecca Campbell	"The Glad Hosts" (Lackington’s #7)	Finalist	[20] [21]
	Mike Donoghue	"Stuck in the Past" ( Abyss & Apex #54)	Finalist	[20] [21]
	Kelly Robson	"Two-Year Man" ( Asimov’s , August 2015)	Finalist	[20] [21]
	Peter Wendt	"Get the Message" (Second Contacts)	Finalist	[20] [21]
2017	A. C. Wise	"The Sailing of the Henry Charles Morgan in Six Pieces of Scrimshaw (1841)"	Winner	[22] [23]
	K. T. Bryski	"La Corriveau" (Strange Horizons 10/3/16)	Finalist	[23] [24]
	James Alan Gardner	"The Dog and the Sleepwalker" (Strangers Among Us)	Finalist	[23] [24]
	Helen Marshall	"Caro in Carno" (The Mammoth Book of Cthulhu)	Finalist	[23] [24]
	A. C. Wise	"The Men from Narrow Houses" (Liminal Stories Spring/Summer ’16)	Finalist	[23] [24]
2018	Sandra Kasturi	"The Beautiful Gears of Dying"	Winner	[25] [26]
	Rich Larson	"Spiked" ( Abyss & Apex 6/17)	Finalist	[26] [27]
	Karin Lowachee	"Meridian" (Where the Stars Rise)	Finalist	[26] [27]
	Rati Mehrotra	"Hacker’s Faire" (Cast of Wonders 3/17)	Finalist	[26] [27]
	Kate Story	"Animate" (Cli-fi: Canadian Tales of Climate Change)	Finalist	[26] [27]
2019	Senaa Ahmad	"The Glow-in-the-Dark Girls"	Winner	[28] [29]
	Madeline Ashby	"Domestic Violence" (Future Tense 3/26/18)	Finalist	[29] [30]
	Malon Edwards	"Candied Sweets, Cornbread, and Black-Eyed Peas" (Sword and Sonnet)	Finalist	[29] [30]
	Rich Larson	"Meat And Salt And Sparks" ( Tor.com 6/6/18)	Finalist	[29] [30]
	A. C. Wise	"The Time Traveler’s Husband" (Shimmer 11/18)	Finalist	[29] [30]
2020	Rebecca Campbell	"The Fourth Trimester is the Strangest"	Winner	[31] [32]
	Amal El-Mohtar	"Florilegia" (The Mythic Dream)	Finalist	[32]
	Kate Heartfield	"The Inland Beacon" (Tesseracts Twenty-Two: Alchemy and Artifacts)	Finalist	[32]
	Catherine Kim	"The Hundred Gardens" (Nat. Brut Spring ’19)	Finalist	[32]
	Richard Van Camp	"Wheetago War II: Summoners" (Moccasin Square Gardens)	Finalist	[32]

Young adult

Sunburst Award for Young Adult Book winners and finalists

Year	Author	Result	Result	Ref.
2008	Joanne Proulx	Anthem of a Reluctant Prophet	Winner	[5] [33]
2009	Cory Doctorow	Little Brother	Winner	[6] [7] [33]
	Kelley Armstrong	The Summoning	Finalist	[7] [8]
	Charles de Lint	Dingo	Finalist	[7] [8]
	Eileen Kernaghan	Wild Talent: A Novel of the Supernatural	Finalist	[7] [8]
	Max Turner	Night Runner	Finalist	[7] [8]
2010	Hiromi Goto	Half World	Winner	[9] [33]
	Megan Crewe	Give Up the Ghost	Finalist	[9] [10]
	Maureen Garvie	Amy By Any Other Name	Finalist	[9] [10]
	Lesley Livingston	Wondrous Strange	Finalist	[9] [10]
	Arthur Slade	The Hunchback Assignment	Finalist	[9] [10]
2011	Paul Glennon	Bookweirder	Winner	[11] [12] [33]
	Holly Bennett	Shapeshifter	Finalist	[12] [13]
	Erin Bow	Plain Kate	Finalist	[12] [13]
	Charles de Lint	The Painted Boy	Finalist	[12] [13]
	Robert Paul Weston	Dust City	Finalist	[12] [13]
2012	Catherine Austen	All Good Children	Winner	[14] [33]
	R. J. Anderson	Ultraviolet	Finalist	[14] [15]
	Jamieson Findlay	The Summer of Permanent Wants	Finalist	[14] [15]
	Evan Munday	The Dead Kid Detective Agency	Finalist	[14] [15]
	Moira Young	Blood Red Road	Finalist	[14] [15]
2013	Rachel Hartman	Seraphina	Winner	[33]
	Michael Bedard	The Green Man	Finalist	[16]
	Cory Doctorow	Pirate Cinema	Finalist	[16]
	Susan Juby	Bright’s Light	Finalist	[16]
	Moira Young	Rebel Heart	Finalist	[16]
2014	Charles de Lint	The Cats of Tanglewood Forest	Winner	[17] [33]
2015	Cecil Castellucci	Tin Star	Winner	[18]
	Jonathan Auxier	The Night Gardener	Finalist	[18] [19]
	Alyxandra Harvey	A Breath of Frost	Finalist	[18] [19]
	Eileen Kernaghan	Sophie, In Shadow	Finalist	[18] [19]
	Caitlin Sweet	The Door in the Mountain	Finalist	[18] [19]
2016	Leah Bobet	An Inheritance of Ashes	Winner	[20]
	David Carroll	Sight Unseen	Finalist	[20] [21]
	Mikaela Everett	The Unquiet	Finalist	[20] [21]
	Kenneth Oppel	The Nest	Finalist	[20] [21]
	Neil Smith	Boo	Finalist	[20] [21]
2017	Jonathan Auxier	Sophie Quire and the Last Storyguard	Winner	[22] [23]
	Lena Coakley	Worlds of Ink and Shadow	Finalist	[23] [24]
	Marina Cohen	The Inn Between	Finalist	[23] [24]
	Catherine Egan	Julia Vanishes	Finalist	[23] [24]
	Ian Donald Keeling	The Skids	Finalist	[23] [24]
2018	Cherie Dimaline	The Marrow Thieves	Winner	[25] [26]
	Charis Cotter	The Painting	Finalist	[26] [27]
	Fonda Lee	Exo	Finalist	[26] [27]
	Kari Maaren	Weave a Circle Round	Finalist	[26] [27]
	Wendy Orr	Dragonfly Song	Finalist	[26] [27]
2019	Rachel Hartman	Tess of the Road	Winner	[28] [29]
	Sebastien de Castell	Spellslinger	Finalist	[29] [30]
	Regan McDonell	Black Chuck	Finalist	[29] [30]
	Rebecca Schaeffer	Not Even Bones	Finalist	[29] [30]
	Patrick Weekes	Feeder	Finalist	[29] [30]
2020	Allison Mills	The Ghost Collector	Winner	[31] [32]
	Nafiza Azad	The Candle and the Flame	Finalist	[32]
	Sara Cassidy	Nevers	Finalist	[32]
	Aviaq Johnston	Those Who Dwell Below	Finalist	[32]
	Jess Keating	Nikki Tesla and the Ferret-Proof Death Ray	Finalist	[32]

Lists of nominees

For a complete and up to date listing of current and past long-listed and short-listed works, please see the Sunburst Award Website.

Eligibility

The Sunburst Award administration and juries use the broadest possible definition of speculative fiction for eligibility purposes: "science fiction, fantasy, magic realism, horror, surrealism, fantastique, fabulism, myth and legend, fantastical storytelling, and any other writing beyond the strictly realistic". To be eligible for the award, a work must be published between January 1 and December 31 of the previous year. Only Canadian citizens and landed immigrants are eligible.

References

1. "Return of the Sunburst Awards | the Sunburst Award Society". Archived from the original on 8 August 2025. Retrieved 18 September 2025.
2. "Sunburst Award Hiatus Announcement | the Sunburst Award Society". Archived from the original on 3 April 2023. Retrieved 27 May 2023.
3. "Announcing the 2025 Sunburst Award Winner!". The Sunburst Award Society . 18 September 2025. Retrieved 18 September 2025.
4. "Announcing The 2025 Shortlist". The Sunburst Award Society . 21 July 2025. Retrieved 18 September 2025.
5. "2008 Sunburst Award Winners | The Sunburst Award Society". www.sunburstaward.org. Archived from the original on 6 October 2015. Retrieved 5 October 2015.
6. "2009 Winners". The Sunburst Award Society. Archived from the original on 2 December 2012. Retrieved 5 October 2015.
7. "Sunburst Award 2009 Winners". Locus Online . 29 September 2009. Archived from the original on 7 May 2023. Retrieved 27 May 2023.
8. "Sunburst Award Finalists". Locus Online . 9 July 2009. Archived from the original on 30 November 2022. Retrieved 27 May 2023.
9. "2010 Sunburst Awards Winners". Locus Online . 27 September 2010. Archived from the original on 26 March 2023. Retrieved 27 May 2023.
10. "2010 Sunburst Award Shortlist". Locus Online . 30 June 2010. Archived from the original on 6 February 2023. Retrieved 27 May 2023.
11. Strock, Ian Randall (15 September 2011). "2011 Sunburst Award Winners". SFScope.com. Archived from the original on 15 May 2012. Retrieved 18 September 2011.
12. "2011 Sunburst Awards Winners". Locus Online . 15 September 2011. Archived from the original on 13 March 2023. Retrieved 27 May 2023.
13. "2011 Sunburst Award Shortlist". Locus Online . 29 June 2011. Archived from the original on 24 March 2023. Retrieved 27 May 2023.
14. "2012 Sunburst Award Winners". Locus Online . 6 December 2012. Archived from the original on 7 February 2023. Retrieved 27 May 2023.
15. "2012 Sunburst Award Shortlist". Locus Online . 26 June 2012. Archived from the original on 28 January 2022. Retrieved 27 May 2023.
16. "2013 Sunburst Award Shortlist". Locus Online . 18 July 2013. Archived from the original on 24 March 2023. Retrieved 27 May 2023.
17. "2014 Sunburst Winners". The Sunburst Award Society. Archived from the original on 13 July 2015. Retrieved 12 July 2015.
18. "2015 Sunburst Awards Winners". Locus Magazine . 5 October 2015. Archived from the original on 7 October 2015. Retrieved 5 October 2015.
19. "2015 Sunburst Awards Short List". Locus Online . 22 June 2015. Archived from the original on 5 February 2023. Retrieved 27 May 2023.
20. "2016 Sunburst Awards Winners". Locus Online . 14 September 2016. Archived from the original on 28 December 2022. Retrieved 27 May 2023.
21. "2016 Sunburst Awards Shortlist". Locus Online . 12 July 2016. Archived from the original on 10 August 2020. Retrieved 27 May 2023.
22. "2017 Sunburst Winners". The Sunburst Award Society. 16 October 2017. Archived from the original on 20 March 2023. Retrieved 26 May 2023.
23. "2017 Sunburst Awards Winners". Locus Online . 16 October 2017. Archived from the original on 5 December 2022. Retrieved 27 May 2023.
24. "2017 Sunburst Awards Shortlist". Locus Online . 17 July 2017. Archived from the original on 21 May 2023. Retrieved 27 May 2023.
25. "2018 Sunburst Winners". The Sunburst Award Society. 15 October 2018. Archived from the original on 19 May 2023. Retrieved 26 May 2023.
26. "2018 Sunburst Awards Winners". Locus Online . 15 October 2018. Archived from the original on 28 January 2023. Retrieved 27 May 2023.
27. "2018 Sunburst Awards Shortlist". Locus Online . 30 July 2018. Archived from the original on 19 June 2022. Retrieved 27 May 2023.
28. "2019 Sunburst Award Winners". The Sunburst Award Society. 7 October 2019. Archived from the original on 20 March 2023. Retrieved 26 May 2023.
29. "2019 Sunburst Awards Winners". Locus Online . 7 October 2019. Archived from the original on 26 June 2022. Retrieved 27 May 2023.
30. "2019 Sunburst Awards Shortlists". Locus Online . 29 July 2019. Archived from the original on 25 March 2023. Retrieved 27 May 2023.
31. "2020 Sunburst Award Winners". The Sunburst Award Society. 31 August 2020. Archived from the original on 20 March 2023. Retrieved 26 May 2023.
32. "2020 Sunburst Awards Winners". Locus Online . 31 August 2020. Archived from the original on 30 November 2022. Retrieved 27 May 2023.
33. "Sunburst Award for Excellence in Canadian Literature of the Fantastic Archives". Canadian Children's Book Centre . Archived from the original on 8 December 2022. Retrieved 27 May 2023.

External links

• Sunburst Award Web Site