Billy-Ray Belcourt, Canisia Lubrin, Phoebe Wang shortlisted for 2018 League of Canadian Poets prizes
Jane van Koeverden | CBC | Posted: April 30, 2018 6:14 PM | Last Updated: April 30, 2018
The League of Canadian Poets has announced the finalists for their four annual prizes that celebrate the best in Canadian text and spoken-word poetry.
Each of the four prizes comes with $2,000 for the winner (up from $1,000 in previous years). The winners will be announced in Toronto on June 16, 2018.
The Gerald Lampert Memorial Award shortlist, awarded to the best debut poetry book of the year, includes:
- This Wound is a World by Billy-Ray Belcourt
- Faunics by Jack Davis
- Thin Air of the Knowable by Wendy Donawa
- Otolith by Emily Nilsen
- The Rules of the Kingdom by Julie Paul
- Admission Requirements by Phoebe Wang
The Pat Lowther Memorial Award shortlist, awarded to the best poetry book written by a Canadian woman, includes:
- Indianland by Lesley Belleau
- Bicycle Theives by Mary di Michele
- Museum of Kindness by Susan Elmslie
- Breathing at Dusk by Beth Goobie
- Dear Ghost by Catherine Owen
- Admission Requirements by Phoebe Wang
The Raymond Souster Award shortlist, awarded to a book of poetry written by a League of Canadian poets member, includes:
- This Wound is a World by Billy-Ray Belcourt
- The Better Monsters by Puneet Dutt
- Cloud Physics by Karen Enns
- Slow War by Benjamin Hertwig
- Trailer Park Elegy by Cornelia Hoogland
- Voodoo Hypothesis by Canisia Lubrin
The Sheri-D Wilson Golden Beret Award, awarded to a Canadian spoken word artist who has made a "substantial contribution to the development of spoken word," includes:
- Kaie Kellough, a Montreal author of one novel (Accordéon), two poetry books and two albums
- Ian Keteku, a spoken-word artist whose has won two national slam championships and a world championship
- Dwayne Morgan, a Toronto poet who started Ontario's first school poetry slam league and who is running as an NDP candidate in the Ontario election