The League of Canadian Poets kicked off National Poetry Month by announcing the shortlists for its three annual awards.

The Raymond Souster Award is given for a book of poetry by an LCP member published in the preceding year. The Gerald Lampert Memorial Award recognizes the best first book of poetry published by a Canadian, and the Pat Lowther Memorial Award is given for a book of poetry by a Canadian woman. The winners, each of whom receives $1,000, will be announced at the LCP Poetry Festival and Conference in Toronto on June 7.

The shortlists are:

Raymond Souster Award

• seldom seen road, Jenna Butler (NeWest Press)
• Alongside, Anne Compton (Fitzhenry & Whiteside)
• Her Red Hair Rises with the Wings of Insects, Catherine Graham (Wolsak & Wynn)
• Rebel Women, Vancy Kaspar (Inanna Publications)
• Brilliant Falls, John Terpstra (Gaspereau Press)
• Birds, Metals, Stones & Rain, Russell Thornton (Harbour Publishing)

Gerald Lampert Memorial Award

• the place of scraps, Jordan Abel (Talonbooks)
• Rove, Laurie D. Graham (Hagios Press)
• Light Light, Julie Joosten (BookThug)
• Surge Narrows, Emilia Nielsen (Leaf Press)
• The Survival Rate of Butterflies in the Wild, Murray Reiss (Hagios)
• Incarnate, Juleta Severson-Baker (Frontenac House Poetry)

Pat Lowther Memorial Award

• The Hottest Summer in Recorded History, Elizabeth Bachinsky (Nightwood Editions)
• Alongside, Anne Compton (Fitzhenry & Whiteside)
• Leaving Howe Island, Sadiqa de Meijer (Oolichan Books)
• Whirr and Click, Micheline Maylor (Frontenac House Poetry)
• Meeting the Tormentors in Safeway, Alexandra Oliver (Biblioasis)
• Status Update, Sarah Yi-Mei Tsiang (Oolichan)