Shortlist announced for the Gordon Burn Prize 2026

The shortlist for the Gordon Burn Prize 2026 was announced today (21 January 2026). It is:

• One Day, Everyone Will Have Always Been Against This by Omar El Akkad (Canongate)
• Helm by Sarah Hall (Faber)
• Thank You for Calling the Lesbian Line by Elizabeth Lovatt (John Murray Press)
• Endling by Maria Reva (Little, Brown Book Group)
• A Room Above a Shop by Anthony Shapland (Granta)
• Night of the Living Rez by Morgan Talty (&Other Stories)

The shortlist includes: a deeply affecting and uniquely informed account of the anguish felt being an immigrant of Middle Eastern heritage living in the Western world today (One Day, Everyone Will Have Always Been Against This by Omar El Akkad); a millennia-spanning novel about climate change, told through the eyes of the main character, Helm, a real wind local to Cumbria (Helm by Sarah Hall); a moving and personal celebration of the lives of queer women, using a real-life log of calls made to a lesbian phone helpline in the 1990s (Thank You for Calling the Lesbian Line by Elizabeth Lovatt); a Ukrainian caper about a maverick scientist working with endangered snails that takes a staggeringly unexpected turn half-way through (Endling by Maria Reva); a tender love story of two men quietly and in plain sight finding a way to be together in 1980s rural Wales against the backdrop of the Aids crisis (A Room Above a Shop by Anthony Shapland); and a vivid portrayal of youth, family and community and the effects of intergenerational trauma on a Penobscot Indian Island Reservation in Maine (Night of the Living Rez by Morgan Talty).

The Gordon Burn Prize recognises exceptional writing in English, which has an unconventional perspective, style or subject matter and often defies easy categorisation. It celebrates literary outliers and daring and experimental work that often speaks to broader societal issues.

The shortlist was selected by the Gordon Burn Prize 2026 judges:

• Val McDermid (Chair), international number one bestselling author whose books have been translated into more than 40 languages. Her multi-award-winning series and standalone novels have been adapted for TV and radio, most notably Wire in the Blood and Karen Pirie, both ITV.
• Nooruddean Choudry, journalist, author, and broadcaster who specialises in football, social issues, culture, and politics.
• Freya McClements, an award-winning writer, and journalist. She is Northern Editor of The Irish Times and was co-author of the acclaimed non-fiction work Children of the Troubles: The Untold Story of the Children Killed in the Northern Ireland Conflict.
• Andrew McMillan, poet, and writer. His debut collection of poetry, physical, was the only poetry book to ever win the Guardian First Book Award and his debut novel, Pity (Canongate) was longlisted for the Dylan Thomas Prize.
• Jude Rogers, arts journalist, author, and broadcaster who regularly contributes to The Guardian and the Observer and makes radio documentaries for the BBC.

Val McDermid (chair) said:

“The quality of this year’s submissions has made judging a difficult task, but I’m satisfied we’ve come up with a shortlist that not only reflects Gordon’s passions and terms of engagement, but which will also intrigue and delight readers. The joy of this prize is its ability to put gems in front of readers that they might not have automatically picked up. That’s been my experience and I sure I won’t be the only one!”

Judge Nooruddean Choudry said:

“The whole judging process has been such a joy. I’ve learnt so much about subjects and perspectives I knew nothing about. And after much agonising deliberation, I’m chuffed to bits with our final six. They each reflect the compassion, urgency, and flair of Gordon’s writing in their own way. I reckon we’ve done the big man proud!”

Judge Freya McClements said:

“Each of the books on the shortlist captures the essence of Gordon, tackling the biggest issues of our time in ways which are fresh and innovative and forcing us to face uncomfortable truths about ourselves and our society. They have also been an absolute joy to read, and I have no idea how we’ll pick a winner!”

Judge Andrew McMillan said:

“Each one of these shortlisted books does something new, in the way they break apart and rebuild their form, in the way they make the reader work, but also make the reader welcome into the singular world each text has built. It’s been an honour and a joy to live with these books over the last few months.”

Judge Jude Rogers said:

“What a pleasure to have read so many radical, challenging, funny and moving books for the Gordon Burn Prize this year – the process has been exciting and energising for me as a reader in so many ways. The shortlist is a brilliant indicator of the talent and range of writing we’ve been lucky enough to spend time with.”

Rebecca Wilkie, Senior Programme Manager and Director of Durham Book Festival, New Writing North, said:

“The books in this year’s shortlist tell stories from across the world, from a reservation in America and a Ukraine on the brink of war, to a small Welsh village. Each of the six books feels deeply personal. They include the tender exploration of the queer lives of earlier generations and books that look at the effects of war and colonialism by writers with first-hand experience of oppression and intergenerational trauma. As befits the Gordon Burn Prize, which champions alternative and daring
writing, they find dizzyingly unique ways to challenge existing stereotypes and to connect the reader to exciting new perspectives.”

Professor Jo Robinson, Head of the School of English Literature, Language and Linguistics, Newcastle University, said:

“As ever, each of the shortlisted titles offer challenging and innovative approaches to important, vital stories. Newcastle University, and NCLA, are delighted to be working with New Writing North to support the Gordon Burn Prize in 2026 and beyond.”

 

The prize was founded in 2012 by New Writing North, Faber & Faber, and the Gordon Burn Trust. It is open to all writers of any nationality for work written in English and published in the UK the previous year. It is supported by Newcastle University and the Newcastle Centre for the Literary Arts (NCLA).

The Gordon Burn Prize winner will be announced on 5 March 2026 at an event at Northern Stage in Newcastle upon Tyne. The winning author will receive £10,000 and the chance to undertake a writing retreat at Gordon Burn’s cottage in Berwickshire. The event will include readings from the shortlisted books plus performances. The event will be live-streamed.