The Ursula K. Le Guin Foundation has announced the highly anticipated shortlist for the 2025 Ursula K. Le Guin Prize for Fiction. The annual award, carrying a $25,000 cash prize, celebrates works of imaginative fiction that embody Le Guin’s vision of “realists of a larger reality,” authors who offer hope and alternative ways of living.
Eight exceptional books, chosen from public nominations, have made the cut. They span diverse themes and styles, showcasing the breadth of contemporary speculative fiction. The distinguished shortlist includes:
* Vajra Chandrasekera’s Rakesfall: A revolutionary tale across centuries.
* Andrea Hairston’s Archangels of Funk: A warm, hopeful, and funky vision of a semi-apocalyptic future.
* Nalo Hopkinson’s Blackheart Man: A lush, adventurous feast of possibility rooted in rich folklore.
* Margaret Killjoy’s The Sapling Cage: A beautifully imagined coming-of-age fantasy exploring acceptance and resistance.
* Jared Pechaček’s The West Passage: An illuminating debut following two young people through a surreal landscape.
* Eden Robins’ Remember You Will Die: An unexpectedly life-affirming novel about death, told through obituaries.
* Nghi Vo’s The City in Glass: A story of deeply understanding and rebuilding a broken world.
* Ursula Whitcher’s North Continent Ribbon: An elegant weaving of cultural and political history on a distant planet.
A stellar panel of authors – Matt Bell, Indra Das, Kelly Link, Sequoia Nagamatsu, and Rebecca Roanhorse – will now undertake the crucial task of selecting the ultimate recipient.
The winner of the 2025 Ursula K. Le Guin Prize for Fiction will be revealed on October 21, a date chosen to honour Ursula K. Le Guin’s birthday.
