Libraro are delighted to announce the six fresh new voices in fiction who have been shortlisted for The Libraro Prize 2026! Shaped by feedback from Libraro’s online community of over 15,000 readers and writers, the inaugural shortlist features writers from the UK, Ireland, and the United States, and spans a breadth of genres including horror, literary fiction, thriller, mystery & suspense, romance and women’s fiction.
Launched in January 2026, The Libraro Prize reimagines how authors are discovered, by giving readers an active role in championing emerging talent. The winning entry will win a £50,000 package from Libraro and a book deal with a major international publisher – Hachette UK.
Congratulations to all our shortlisted authors. The winner of The Libraro Prize 2026 and Libraro Reader Prizes will be announced on 13th May 2026.
The shortlist
- The Last Canary by Ben Daniels
- Yours, Everlasting by Natalie Gordon
- Sheep’s Clothing by Donna Fisher
- Love Lost by Mary Minnock
- An Oath of Malice by B. Robinson
- The Lost Zodiac by T.J. Windwood
The Last Canary by Ben Daniels
The Last Canary by Ben Daniels is a thought-provoking read with an intriguing premise – a near future world in which a group of people are selected to be frozen in stasis for decades. The voice is compelling, with a strong female lead and convincing dialogue. Read the sample chapters.
After studying Architecture at the Glasgow School of Art, architect and author Ben Daniels began his career on a remote island in the Outer Hebrides. Alone for a year in a storm-battered old school house, he started writing fiction and, after a decade working as an architect in London and Prague, has completed his first novel. The Last Canary is set largely on North Uist and inspired by its austere beauty and resilient people. He’s now based in Karlovy Vary in the Czech Republic. Find out more about the author.
Yours, Everlasting by Natalie Gordon
Yours, Everlasting by Natalie Gordon has a strong voice, emotional heart and empowering female-led narrative. Interspersed with love letters and based on a true story, it’s the perfect read for fans of World War Two fiction with a strong romantic undercurrent. Read the sample chapters.
Natalie Gordon is a Cumbrian-based author. After more than twenty years juggling a successful career in business and raising a family, Natalie took two years off to write her historical fiction novel Yours, Everlasting. It was inspired by bundles of WW2 love letters inherited from a couple she befriended in her teens. She has self-published two children’s books on Amazon, Mr Nobody and King Worm Jack. Mr. Nobody was longlisted in the 2014 Times/Chicken House children’s fiction competition. You can follow Natalie’s regular library book reviews and ramblings in the Cumbrian hills on Instagram @natgordonwrites. Find out more about the author.
Sheep’s Clothing by Donna Fisher
Sheep’s Clothing by Donna Fisher handles questions of sexual power, cancel culture and consent within a lyrical fable that draws out where love and morality collide. It pulls at the heart-strings, all the while asking where we draw the line when it comes to what matters most. Read the sample chapters.
Donna Fisher is a British-born writer now living in Alexandra Headland, Queensland, Australia. She was shortlisted for the 2025 Bridport Short Story Prize, and her work has been featured on BBC Radio. Her poetry and short fiction regularly appear in literary magazines including Litro, Beyond Words, and samfiftyfour. In 2021, she self-published her debut novel Queentide, which won an Indie Books We Love award from LoveReading. She writes across genres, but a common thread runs through all her work: transformation, growth, and hope. She is currently completing a Master of Creative Writing at Edith Cowan University. She shares her poetry, stories, and personal essays on her Substack. Find out more about the author.
Love Lost by Mary Minnock
Love Lost by Mary Minnock is a deeply moving and intimate portrayal of a divorced mother and father facing the mysterious death of their daughter, while navigating their shared past. The evocative Irish setting, with its tight-knit community, grounds the narrative and adds to its charm. Read the sample chapters.
Irish writer, Mary Minnock, is the author of two previously self-published novels on Amazon. Homesick, published in 2023, is available in both print and audio versions and was a finalist for the US National Indie Excellence Award and shortlisted for the Carousel Aware Prize. Love Lost is her second book and was published in 2024. She lived for 17 years in France before returning home to Ireland and settling in Dublin. Find out more about the author.
An Oath of Malice by B. Robinson
A tense and unputdownable page-turner, An Oath of Malice by B. Robinson takes readers into the world of a diabolical serial killer and the bestselling writer he abducts to tell his life story. But as the story unfolds, and layers are peeled back, we learn the serial killer isn’t the only one with hidden secrets. Read the sample chapters.
Following a childhood on the East Coast of the US, B. Robinson now lives in the Salt Lake Valley of Utah. An English teacher by day, he tries to instill a love of reading and writing to his students, and his ambition is to see that passion turned into a career. Find out more about the author.
The Lost Zodiac by T.J. Windwood
The Lost Zodiac by T.J. Windwood is a gripping story of a world in peril, where the only hope of salvation is a process called ‘the yielding’ – in which participants emerge unrecognisable from their former selves. A page-turning, immersive read, with a powerful love story at the centre. Read the sample chapters.
T.J. Windwood is a YA fantasy author currently serving as an Air & Space Ops Manager in the Royal Air Force. She writes stories that explore power, identity, and belonging and The Lost Zodiac: Air of Truth, her debut novel, blends militarised training, zodiac mythology, and slow-burn romance in a world where memory is the price of power. Find out more about the author.
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