The Sunburst Award for Excellence in Canadian Literature of the Fantastic is an annual award celebrating the best in Canadian fantastika published during the previous calendar year. The Sunburst official Shortlist will be announced in July and the winners will be announced in September.
Crow Winter by Karen McBride (HarperAvenue) has been nominated for Adult Fiction: Since coming home to Spirit Bear Point First Nation, Hazel Ellis has been dreaming of an old crow. He tells her he’s here to help her, save her. From what, exactly? Sure, her dad’s been dead for almost two years and she hasn’t quite reconciled that grief, but is that worth the time of an Algonquin demigod? Soon Hazel learns that there’s more at play than just her own sadness and doubt. The quarry that’s been lying unsullied for over a century on her father’s property is stirring the old magic that crosses the boundaries between this world and the next. With the aid of Nanabush, Hazel must unravel a web of deceit that, if left untouched, could destroy her family and her home on both sides of the Medicine Wheel.
Karen McBride is an Algonquin Anishinaabe writer from the Timiskaming First Nation in the territory that is now Quebec. She holds a bachelor of arts in music and English, a bachelor of education from the University of Ottawa and a master of arts in creative writing from the University of Toronto. Karen works as an elementary school teacher on her home reserve. Crow Winter is her first novel. Karen is represented by Stephanie Sinclair.
The Changeling of Fenlen Forest by Katherine Magyarody (Yellow Dog/Great Plains Publications) has been nominated in Young Adult Fiction: Elizabeth thinks she knows the gloomy Fenlen Forest. But when her treasured unicorn fawn, Sida, goes missing, Elizabeth tracks her into a strange land where the people think Elizabeth is a changeling, a malignant being who too-closely resembles a missing girl. If Elizabeth can find her fawn and uncover the fate of her lost double, can she stop the fear from turning into hate? To solve the deepening mystery, Elizabeth befriends a handsome, skeptical young shepherd whose stories hint at a dark secret lurking at the forest’s edge, and tame a herd of wild unicorns with the ability to unlock the past.
Katherine Magyarody grew up in Toronto, Ontario. While pursuing a PhD in English literature at the U of T, she researched awkward Victorian teens and wrote fiction on the sly. In 2017, Katherine won the Robert J. Dau PEN Award for Emerging Writers for her short story “Goldhawk.” Katherine enjoys hiking, swordplay, and improvisational cookery. She currently lives in Connecticut with her family. Katherine is represented by Amy Tompkins.
To view the full list, please visit: http://sunburstaward.org/2020-longlist