Shortlists Revealed for 2020 Sunburst Awards

The Sunburst Award for Excellence in Canadian Literature of the Fantastic have now announced their 2020 shortlists.

Among the final-round authors this year are Scott R. Jones, Silvia Moreno-Garcia, Aviaq Johnson, and Richard Van Camp, whose nominations in both the Adult Fiction (for his collection Moccasin Square Gardens) and Short Story categories are something to celebrate (Richard's early short story collection Angel Wing Splash Pattern also celebrates its 20th anniversary this year - read our interview with him here).

Winners of the adult and young adult categories will each receive a cash prize of $1000, while the short story winner will take home $500. All winners also receive a Sunburst medallion.

Celebrating exceptional speculative fiction writing in the categories of adult, young adult, and short story, this year's jury consists of Peter Darbyshire, Kristyn Dunnion, Omar El Akkad, Michelle Butler Hallett,  John Jantunen, Michael Johnstone, Ursula Pflug, and Sarah Tolmie.

Read below for the full shortlists:

Adult Fiction

• Shout Kill Revel Repeat, Scott R. Jones (Trepidatio Publishing)
• The Migration, Helen Marshall (Random House Canada)
• Crow Winter, Karen McBride (HarperAvenue)
• Gods of Jade and Shadow, Silvia Moreno-Garcia (Del Rey)
• Moccasin Square Gardens, Richard Van Camp (Douglas & McIntyre)

Young Adult Fiction

• The Candle and the Flame, Nafiza Azad (Scholastic Inc.)
• Nevers, Sara Cassidy (Orca Book Publishers)
• Those Who Dwell Below, Aviaq Johnston (Inhabit Media)
• Nikki Tesla and the Ferret-Proof Death Ray, Jess Keating (Scholastic)
• The Ghost Collector, Alison Mills (Annick Press)

Short Story

• “The Fourth Trimester is the Strangest,” Rebecca Campbell (The Magazine of Fantasy and Science Fiction, May/June 2019)
• “Florilegia,” Amal El-Mohtar (The Mythic Dream, Gallery/Saga Press)
• “The Inland Beacon,” Kate Heartfield (Tesseracts Twenty-Two Alchemy and Artifacts, July 2019)
• “The Hundred Gardens,” Catherine Kim (Nat. Brut, Issue 12, Spring 2019)
• “Wheetago War II: Summoners,” Richard Van Camp (Moccasin Square Gardens, Douglas & McIntyre)

For more information on the Sunbursts Awards, visit their website.