The finalists for the Griffin Poetry Prize, which recognizes one exceptional book of poetry by a Canadian author and one by an international author published the previous year, have been announced. Each winning title receives $65,000.
Toronto poet Adam Sol, Pulitzer Prize for Poetry winner Tracy K. Smith, and U.K. poet Alice Oswald chose the following finalists from 633 submissions from 43 countries:
Canadian
- Ulrikka S. Gernes; Per Brask and Patrick Friesen, trans.; Frayed Opus for Strings & Wind Instruments (Brick Books)
- Liz Howard, Infinite Citizen of the Shaking Tent (McClelland & Stewart)
- Soraya Peerbaye, Tell: poems for a girlhood (Pedlar Press)
International
- Norman Dubie, The Quotations of Bone (Copper Canyon Press)
- Joy Harjo, Conflict Resolution for Holy Beings (W.W. Norton & Company)
- Don Paterson, 40 Sonnets (Faber and Faber)
- Rowan Ricardo Phillips, Heaven (Farrar, Straus and Giroux)
The finalists, each of whom will receive $10,000, will perform at a reading on June 1 at Toronto’s Koerner Hall at the Royal Conservatory. The winners will be announced at an awards dinner on June 2.