The League of Canadian Poets announced the shortlists for its three annual awards earlier this week.

In addition to the Gerald Lampert Memorial Award Shortlist for the best first book and the Pat Lowther Memorial Award for a book of poetry by a Canadian woman, the league introduced a third award this year. The inaugural Raymond Souster Award, which recognizes the best book of poetry by a league member, was established to honour the eponymous poet, who died last October at the age of 91.

Each award carries a $1,000 prize.

The Gerald Lampert Memorial Award:

• Charms Against Lightning, James Arthur (Copper Canyon Press)
• I see my love more clearly from a distance, Nora Gould (Brick Books)
• The Lease, Mathew Henderson (Coach House Books)
• Sumptuary Laws, Nyla Matuk (Véhicule Press)
• Repeater, Andrew McEwan (BookThug)
• Notebook M, Gillian Savigny (Insomniac Press)

The jury for the Gerald Lampert Memorial Award is Kathy Mac, Marguerite Pigeon, and Heather Cadsby.

The Pat Lowther Memorial Award shortlisted books are:

• Soul Mouth, Marilyn Bowering (Exile Editions)
• Monkey Ranch, Julie Bruck (Brick Books)
• The Book of Marvels, Lorna Crozier (Greystone Books)
• Slow Curve Out, Maureen Scott Harris (Pedlar Press)
• A Grain of Rice, Evelyn Lau (Oolichan Books)
• Song and Spectacle, Rachel Rose (Harbour Publishing)

The jury for the Pat Lowther Memorial Award is Kate Braid, Gay Allison, and Marsha Barber.

The Raymond Souster Award:

• Hummingbird, John Wall Barger (Palimpsest Press)
• the Flicker tree: Okanagan Poems, Nancy Holmes (Ronsdale Press)
• Wayworn Wooden Floors, Mark Lavorato (The Porcupine’s Quill)
• Between Dusk and Night, Emily McGiffin (Brick Books)
• The New Measures, A.F. Moritz (House of Anansi Press)
• no ordinary place, Pamela Porter (Ronsdale Press)

The jury for the Raymond Souster Award is David Day, Louise Bernice Halfe, and Barry Dempster.