Brad Aaron Modlin has made the 2022 CBC Poetry Prize longlist twice: for Pink Fairy Armadillo and To the Astronaut Who Hopes Life on Another Planet Will Be More Bearable.

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.

Brad Aaron Modlin's poetry has been the text for orchestral scores, the springboard for an NYC art exhibition and the focus of episodes of The Slowdown with U.S. poet laureate Ada Limón and Poetry Unbound from public radio's On Being Studios. His book Everyone at This Party Has Two Names won the Cowles Poetry Prize. He has participated in residencies with the Banff Centre, Artscape Toronto Island and Biophilium in Gatineau. He wrote/read/sang a poem for a concert with Symphony Nova Scotia and stayed on key. A creative writing professor, he teaches undergraduate and graduate students.

"Boyfriends debate love's newness/oldness."

"Sometimes (human) couples, perhaps queer ones in particular, feel they are creating love from scratch. And sometimes we realize we follow in the footsteps of previous generations of lovers: kissing jaws, arguing in pettiness, taking long walks."

Sometimes my boyfriend says, "Here's the dishrag, you
pink fairy armadillo," and I say, "I do not eat insects
or live in the Argentine grasslands. We
have been through all this before." But at the sink tonight
I realize this whole time he's been looking for
something newer than honey
or baby. He likes queer

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.