Est. 2009

Leapfrog Global Fiction Prize

2026 Winners

WINNERS     LISTS     JUDGES

 

WINNERS

Adult Category

Judging in progress.

YA/MG Category

Winner: Callie, Out Loud by Elizabeth Donnelly

1st runner up: The Spy and the Small Flames by Enid Baxter Ryce

2nd runner up: Eko of Disaster by K. Vann O’Brien

 

Lists

ADULT SHORTLIST

TBA

 

 

 

 

 

ADULT LONGLIST

NEWMAN’S CHOICE

CONSULAR SERVICES

HOWL

THE COLOR OF AIR

REFRAIN

TONIGHT, I WILL BE FREE THE LUCKY SPERM AWARD

BLOOD AND PAINT: ARTEMISIA IN LONDON

THE HOTEL CALIFORNIA: TALES OF THE GAY AMERICAN WEST

YA/MG SHORTLIST

BEWARE THE AZULAY! (A PIRATE TALE)

EKO OF DISASTER

CALLIE , OUT LOUD

THE FURNITURE GHOSTS

THE SPY AND THE SMALL FLAMES

 

YA/MG LONGLIST

BEWARE THE AZULAY! (A PIRATE TALE)

THE TROUBLE WITH SPELLING

SLOW RIDE

EKO OF DISASTER

CALLIE , OUT LOUD

THE FURNITURE GHOSTS

A BIG GIANT MESS

THE CHESS PHANTOM

CLOUDIA WITH A CHANCE OF DARKNESS

THE SPY AND THE SMALL FLAMES

 

Thank you to our 2026 judges!

We are privileged to have Jake Arnott as the judge of the 2026 Adult Fiction Category. Jake Arnott is an award-winning novelist and dramatist whose bestselling debut The Long Firm was a New York Times Notable Book of the Year and was adapted as a BAFTA award-winning BBC TV drama series starring Mark Strong and Sir Derek Jacobi. His latest novel, Blood Rival, was published in October 2025 by Datura Books, and he has another, Netherwood, from Titan Books coming out in August.

We are thrilled to have Mick Carlon as the judge of the 2026 YA/MG Fiction Category. Mick’s novel Riding on Duke’s Train won the first YA/MG Leapfrog Global Fiction Prize in 2010.

Mick Carlon’s Jazz novels – Riding on Duke’s Train, Travels with Louis, and Girl Singer – are in the curriculum of 100+ schools in the United States. According to the late Nat Hentoff: “Nothing like Carlon’s books has yet been attempted in the history of Jazz. They are introducing a new generation to the glories and stories of our music.”

A six-time speaker at the Satchmo Summerfest in New Orleans, Carlon has spoken to audiences about Jazz in New York City,Boston, Dallas, Anaheim, Los Angeles, Minneapolis, and all over New England. After enjoying a 38 year career as a public school teacher, Carlon lives on Cape Cod, Massachusetts with his wife, Lisa. The couple are very proud of their daughters Hannah and Sarah.