Collection by Canadian poet Susan Musgrave among 10 books longlisted for $130K Griffin Poetry Prize
The prize is the biggest in the world for poetry
B.C. poet Susan Musgrave is longlisted for the revamped Griffin Poetry Prize. Musgrave is being recognized for her collection Exculpatory Lilies.
The $130,000 prize is now the world's largest international prize for a single book of poetry written in, or translated into English.
The annual prize previously awarded $65,000 to two works of English-language poetry from the previous year — one Canadian and one international.
Musgrave lost her husband in 2018 and her daughter in 2021. In her collection Exculpatory Lilies, Musgraves explores this expansive grief but also the natural world and the connection between the two, searching for the beauty in the emotional highs and lows of life.
Musgrave is one of Canada's most renowned poets and writers. She has received awards for poetry, fiction, nonfiction, personal essay, children's writing and for her work as an editor. She has published many books, including Love You More, More Blueberries and Kiss, Tickle, Cuddle, Hug. Musgrave won the 1996 CBC Award for Poetry.
She lives on the island of Haida Gwaii, where she owns The Copper Beech House. Her experiences on Haida Gwaii inspired her cookbook A Taste of Haida Gwaii.
Two other titles with Canadian connections made the longlist: Egyptian Canadian writer Iman Mersal is nominated for The Threshold, which was translated from Arabic into English by Robyn Creswell; and Greek Canadian translator Manolis Aligizakis is nominated for his translation of Tasos Livaditi: Poems, Volume II.
The jury is comprised of Canadian poet Gregory Scofield, American poet Natasha Trethewey and Macedonian poet Nikola Madzirov. They read 602 books, submitted by 229 publishers from 20 different countries.
The complete longlist is
- Tasos Livaditis: Poems, Volume II by Tasos Livaditis, translated from Greek by Manolis Aligizakis
- The Study of Human Life by Joshua Bennett
- The Threshold by Iman Mersal, translated from Arabic by Robyn Creswell
- The Jaguar by Sarah Holland-Batt
- The Hurting Kind by Ada Limón
- Exculpatory Lilies by Susan Musgrave
- Balladz by Sharon Olds
- Best Barbarian by Roger Reeves
- Bless the Daughter Raised by a Voice in Her Head by Warsan Shire
- Time is a Mother by Ocean Vuong
The five-book shortlist will be announced on April 19, with the winners being announced on June 7 at Koerner Hall in Toronto. The Koerner Hall event will also feature readings from all the finalists before the big reveal.
The remaining shortlisted writers will each receive $10,000.
In the event a winning book is a translation into English, the Griffin Poetry Prize will allocate 60 per cent of the prize to the translator and 40 per cent to the original poet.
A new $10,000 prize will be awarded for a Canadian first book of poetry. The award is a six-week residency in Italy in partnership with the Civitella Ranieri Foundation to a Canadian citizen, or permanent resident, for a first book written in English.
"The Griffin Poetry Prize has been acknowledging and encouraging poets for 22 years. At a time when censorship and attacks on a diverse array of writers are on the rise in many countries — including the United States — it's heartening to see such a strong vote of confidence in poets coming from Canada. Poetry is not a minor art form; it is the crucible of human language," said Canadian author Margaret Atwood, who is a founding trustee for the award, when the prize's changes were announced.
A $25,000 lifetime recognition Award will also be awarded, bringing the total of the new prize fund to $205,000.
Last year's Canadian winner was Surrey, B.C.-based poet Tolu Oloruntoba for his collection The Junta of Happenstance. The international winner was American poet Douglas Kearney for Sho.
Other past Canadian winners include Billy-Ray Belcourt, Anne Carson, Roo Borson, Dionne Brand and Jordan Abel.
