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# Here are the finalists for the 2026 World Fantasy Awards
- URL: https://www.andrewliptak.com/world-fantasy-award-2026-finalists-books/
- Published: 2026-08-05T18:28:09.000Z
- Updated: 2026-08-05T19:38:10.000Z
- Author: Andrew Liptak
- Tags: Awards, News, Books, Fantasy, Book List

The World Fantasy Convention [has announced](https://wfc2026.org/2026-world-fantasy-awards-final-ballot/?ref=andrewliptak.com) the finalists for this year's awards. The World Fantasy Award has been been handed out annually since 1975, and they're amongst the highest honors in the fantasy and horror genres alongside the Hugo and Nebula Awards. This year's jury was composed of Chịkọdịlị Emelụmadụ, Tamsyn Muir, Madeleine E. Robins, Richard Thomas, and Ann VanderMeer.

This year's winners will be announced at [this year's convention](https://wfc2026.org/?ref=andrewliptak.com), which will be held October 22-25 in Oakland, California. 

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Here are the finalists for this year's award:

### Best Novel

- *Audition for the Fox* by Martin Cahill
- *Once Was Willem* by M.R. Carey
- *The Secret Market of the Dead* by Giovanni De Feo
- *The Everlasting* by Alix E. Harrow
- *The Adventures of Mary Darling* by Pat Murphy

### Best Long Fiction

- *The River Has Roots* by Amal El-Mohtar
- “The Secret Diary of Mina Harker"by Theodora Goss (*Letters from an Imaginary Country*)
- “Uncertain Sons”by Thomas Ha (*Uncertain Sons and Other Stories*)
- *The Death of Mountains* by Jordan Kurella
- “The Spotter”by Josh Malerman (*You, Human: An Anthology of Dark Science Fiction, Vol. 2*)
- *Psychopomp & Circumstance* by Eden Royce
- *A Mouthful of Dust* by Nghi Vo

### Best Short Fiction

- “[The Hungry Mouth at the Edge of Space and the Goddess Knitting at Home](https://reactormag.com/the-hungry-mouth-renan-bernardo/?ref=andrewliptak.com)”by Renan Bernardo (*Reactor* 8/27/25)
- “[In My Country](https://clarkesworldmagazine.com/ha%5F04%5F25/?ref=andrewliptak.com)”by Thomas Ha (*Clarkesworld* 4/25)
- “[10 Visions of the Future; or, Self-Care for the End of Days](https://www.uncannymagazine.com/article/10-visions-of-the-future-or-self-care-for-the-end-of-days/?ref=andrewliptak.com)”by Samantha Mills (*Uncanny* 3-4/25)
- “[St. Dymphna’s School for Borderland Girls](https://www.weirdhorrormagazine.com/st-dymphnas-school-for-borderland-girls?ref=andrewliptak.com)”by Jocelyn Szczepaniak-Gillece (*Weird Horror* Spring ‘25)
- “[Unfinished Architectures of the Human-Fae War](https://www.uncannymagazine.com/article/unfinished-architectures-of-the-human-fae-war/?ref=andrewliptak.com)"by Caroline M. Yoachim (*Uncanny* 5-6/25)

### Best Anthology

- *Night & Day* edited by Ellen Datlow
- *Storyteller: A Tanith Lee Tribute Anthology* edited by Julie C. Day, Carina Bissett and Craig Laurance Gidney
- *The Best Weird Fiction of the Year: Volume 1*, editedby Michael Kelly
- *Year’s Best Canadian Fantasy & Science Fiction: Volume Three* editedby Stephen Kotowych
- *Bog People: A Working-Class Anthology of Folk Horror* editedby Hollie Starling

### Best Collection

- *Letters from an Imaginary Country* by Theodora Goss
- *Uncertain Sons and Other Stories* by Thomas Ha
- *The Essential Patricia A. McKillip* by Patricia A. McKillip
- *The Eleventh Hour: A Quintet of Stories* by Salman Rushdie
- *Black Hole Heart and Other Stories* by K.A. Teryna and translated by Alex Shvartsman

### Best Artist

- Galen Dara
- Kathleen Jennings
- Daniele Serra
- Rachel Smythe
- Charles Vess

### Special Award – Professional

- Clive Bloom, for *London Uncanny: A Gothic Guide to the Capital in Weird History and Fiction*
- Jaymee Goh, Jill Roberts & Jacob Weisman, for Tachyon Publications
- Tim Lucas, for *Succubus*
- Blumhouse & Dave Schilling, for *Horror’s New Wave: 15 Years of Blumhouse*
- Becky Siegel Spratford, for *Why I Love Horror: Essays on Horror Literature*
- Richard Wolinsky, for *Space Ships! Ray Guns! Martian Octopods!: Interviews with Science Fiction Legends*

### Special Award – Non-Professional

- Scott H. Andrews, for *Beneath Ceaseless Skies*
- Andy Cox, for *Remains*
- Patrick Swenson, for Fairwood Press and for the Rainforest Writers Village Retreat
- Elise C. Tobler, for *The Deadlands*
- Wendy Wagner, for *Nightmare*

---

Congratulations to all of the finalists! Thanks for reading. Let me know what stood out for you on this list. For me, I really loved Alix Harrow's *The Everlasting* ([here's my review](https://www.andrewliptak.com/alix-harrow-the-everlasting-fantasy-time-travel-book-review/)), but there are a ton of other really exciting books included.