Larissa Andrusyshyn has made the 2022 CBC Poetry Prize longlist for Tagish Elvis Borealis.

The shortlist will be announced on Nov. 17 and the winner will be announced on Nov. 24.

If you're interested in the CBC Literary Prizes, the CBC Nonfiction Prize opens in January and the CBC Poetry Prize opens in April.

Larissa Andrusyshyn has published two poetry collections: Proof and Mammoth. Mammoth was a finalist for the Quebec Writers' Federation First Book Prize and the Kobzar Literary Award. Her work has appeared in CV2, Montreal Writes, Maisonneuve, carte blanche, Columba Poetry and Arc Poetry Magazine. She is a member of Canada's National Australian Rules Football team and she lives in Montreal with her adoring cat Lulu. She works for non-profits facilitating creative writing workshops for at-risk youth.

Andrusyshyn was a reader for the CBC Poetry Prize in 2018.

"Enchantment, disturbances, yearning for magic."

"I've always been fascinated by the aurora borealis; a phenomenon steeped both in magic and unlikeliness. During lockdown, I returned to working on a magical realism novel about an Elvis impersonator and I signed up for a fiction workshop with novelist Anita Rau Badami through the Quebec Writers' Federation. The workshop was incredibly rewarding and full of brilliant writers.

"One evening, we were discussing the idea of enchantment and Anita shared an anecdote about her travels through Yukon during a book tour where she'd heard of this legendary man in a small town near Whitehorse who claimed he was Elvis. I was incredulous and rapt by the story. Anita made me promise I'd never write that story; she was insistent none of us attempt to write this story because she intends to write it someday. Unfortunately, poets are thieves and victims of our own obsessions. I couldn't stop thinking about him; I researched him and it occurred to me that Elvis and the aurora borealis are quite alike. The only way to process it was to write the thing that was demanding to be written. I stole her Elvis for this poem and that is why the poem is addressed to her with my sincere apologies."

With apologies to Anita

I have been touched by many waves of light, loved the glow
of carnival midways and candle flares,
the paper lanterns on the beach in Koh Lao—
But I have never seen the Northern Lights.

Stories are the currency of long winters, it's said
the Northern Lights carry messages from the ancestors.
Last night you told me in Yukon you can see them and that Elvis is there
painting gold pans for the tourists; a vision in white
against the road that leads out of town.

The winner of the 2022 CBC Poetry Prize will receive $6,000 from the Canada Council for the Arts, have their work published on CBC Books and attend a two-week writing residency at the Banff Centre for the Arts and Creativity. Four finalists will each receive $1,000 from the Canada Council for the Arts and have their work published on CBC Books.

The 2023 CBC Nonfiction Prize will open in January. The 2023 CBC Poetry Prize will open in April.