Toronto author Kate Cayley has won the 2026 Toronto Book Award for her novel Property, the City of Toronto and Toronto Public Library announced Monday evening.
The award was presented Nov. 10 at the Toronto Reference Library. Cayley receives a $20,000 prize, while each of the other shortlisted authors will receive $2,000, according to a City of Toronto news release.
Property, published by Coach House Books, takes place over a single spring day in a gentrifying Toronto neighbourhood. The novel follows a cast of interconnected residents as they navigate family tensions, friendship, class and belonging in an increasingly stretched city. As their lives gradually converge, small encounters build toward a tragedy that leaves the West End neighbourhood forever changed.
This year's jury described the book as “a novel of dazzling interiority,” praising its exploration of the anxieties, desires and obsessions of four families living on a single Toronto street. The jurors said Cayley's ability to evoke life in Toronto comes through her thoughtful treatment of contemporary concerns.
Congratulations to Kate Cayley on winning the 2026 Toronto Book Award for her novel, Property. This award celebrates the outstanding literary talent that helps define Toronto's cultural landscape and brings our city's stories to life. We are proud to recognize all of this year's shortlisted authors and their remarkable contributions to Canadian literature. I hope readers across Toronto will pick up these books and come away inspired by their creativity, insight and range of perspectives.
Moe Hosseini-Ara, City Librarian and CEO of Toronto Public Library, said in the news release.
The 2026 jury included author and poet Jake Byrne, novelist and non-fiction writer Kristen den Hartog, literary agent Julia Kim, educator, anti-racism advocate and writer Matthew R. Morris, and poet, translator and curator Bänoo Zan — a group of award-winning writers, publishing professionals, educators and literary advocates from across Toronto's literary community.
A 50-year Toronto tradition
Established in 1974, the Toronto Book Awards celebrate authors whose works capture the spirit, history, people and places of Toronto. The awards recognize literary excellence and works that deepen understanding of the city's people, places, histories and diverse communities.
The awards are one of the ways the City supports creativity and culture through Culture Connects, its 10-year action plan for culture. By recognizing and investing in authors whose work is inspired by Toronto, the City says the awards elevate local voices, support literary excellence and help readers discover stories that reflect the city's communities, histories and experiences.
Residents can explore and borrow this year's shortlisted titles through the Toronto Public Library's Toronto Book Awards webpage. More information about the award is available on the City's Toronto Book Awards webpage.
