Julia Elliott wins US$150k Carol Shields Prize for 'Hellions'

Author Julia Elliott seen in this undated photo. Julia Elliot is the winner of the 2026 Carol Shields Prize for Fiction. THE CANADIAN PRESS/Handout - Forrest Clonts

TORONTO — Julia Elliott’s eerie short story collection “Hellions” has won the US$150,000 Carol Shields Prize for Fiction.

“Hellions” includes elements of horror, Southern gothic and folklore, and jurors praise it for taking “no half-measures,” saying “every sentence of Hellions crackles or crawls.”

The book includes stories about a teen discovering her power, a young woman who goes up against a shape-shifting older professor and a nun working on a forbidden manuscript.

Elliott was celebrated at a gala in Toronto on Tuesday night.

The award is the largest English-language literary prize in the world for women and non-binary authors, and writers from Canada and the United States both qualify.

The shortlisted authors, who receive US$12,500 apiece, were Quiara Alegría Hudes for “The White Hot,” Lee Lai for “Cannon,” Megha Majumdar for “A Guardian and a Thief” and Sonya Walger for “Lion.”

This report by The Canadian Press was first published June 2, 2026.

Nicole Thompson, The Canadian Press