June 18, 2025, 11:35am

Ursula K. Le Guin Foundation has announced the shortlist for the 2025 Ursula K. Le Guin Prize for Fiction, which awards $25,000 each year to the author of a book who best represents the legendary writer’s literary, moral, and aesthetic ideals: “realists of a larger reality, who can imagine real grounds for hope and see alternatives to how we live now.”

The eight books on the shortlist were chosen by the Foundation after a public voting process; the recipient of this year’s prize will be chosen by a panel consisting of authors Matt Bell, Indra Das, Kelly Link, Sequoia Nagamatsu, and Rebecca Roanhorse.

The winner will be announced on October 21st, which is Le Guin’s birthday. In the meantime, here’s the shortlist:

Vajra Chandrasekera, Rakesfall
(Tordotcom Publishing)

Andrea Hairston, Archangels of Funk
(Tordotcom Publishing)

Nalo Hopkinson, Blackheart Man
(Saga Press)

Margaret Killjoy, The Sapling Cage
(Feminist Press)

Jared Pechaček, The West Passage
(Tordotcom Publishing)

Nghi Vo, The City in Glass
(Tordotcom Publishing)

Ursula Whitcher, North Continent Ribbon
(Neon Hemlock)

Eden Robins, Remember You Will Die
(Sourcebooks Landmark)