Polaris nod brings Begonia’s fantasy closer to reality

True to her latest album’s title, Begonia is living her Fantasy Life.

After taking home the Juno Award for Adult Alternative Album of the Year in March — sharing the honour with Bahamas in a rare awards-show tie — the Winnipeg singer-songwriter has now earned a spot on the 10-album short list for the 2026 Polaris Music Prize for her third full-length solo record.

Also making the cut for the short list — winnowed down from a field of 40 Canadian records released last year — are Les Louanges, Rochelle Jordan, Beverly Glenn-Copeland and Elizabeth Copeland, Charlotte Cornfield, Peaches, Bibi Club, Aquakultre and past winner Tanya Tagaq.

Rounding out the short-list honorees are Québécois art-rock weirdos Angine de Poitrine, who are set to perform at the Winnipeg Folk Festival’s Big Blue at Night stage Friday.

The short list, presented by FACTOR, was announced Thursday afternoon by CBC Music. The artists behind the winning album will receive the award, along with a $30,000 monetary prize funded by the Slaight Family Foundation.

For Begonia’s Alexa Dirks — whose career began with Winnipeg groups the New Lightweights, Little Boy Boom and the Juno-winning Chic Gamine — it’s the second time that a solo album has received short-list recognition, following 2023’s Powder Blue. Her 2019 debut Fear earned her a spot on the long list. Each of Begonia’s records was released by Winnipeg’s Birthday Cake label and co-produced with Matt Peters and Matt Schellenberg, who work together in Los Angeles under the moniker deadmen.

For the album track My Fantasy Life, Begonia is also in contention for the second annual SOCAN Polaris Song Prize, whose winner will take home $10,000. “Hard to admit I’ve been struggling for years to gain some imagined respect from my peers,” she sings on the record’s penultimate song, a paean to the power of self-actualization.

Other Manitoban records to make this year’s long list included Boy Golden’s Best of Our Possible Lives, JayWood’s Leo Negro and Propagandhi’s At Peace.

The Polaris Music and Song prizes will both be handed out on Sept. 22 at Toronto’s Massey Hall. Begonia is slated to take the stage at the event, which will be hosted by CBC Radio’s Odario Williams, a Winnipeg-raised artist and member of the hip-hop group Grand Analog.

Should Begonia win, she will become the first Manitoban artist ever to earn the Polaris. Past winners include Debby Friday, Owen Pallett, Pierre Kwenders, Jeremy Dutcher and Cadence Weapon.

ben.waldman@winnipegfreepress.com