Julie Cameron Gray

The League of Canadian Poets has announced the shortlists for its annual poetry awards, to be presented on June 10.

Nominees for the Gerald Lampert Memorial Award, recognizing a debut collection by a Canadian poet, include: Assdeep in Wonder by Christopher Gudgeon (Anvil Press); The Back Channels by Jennifer Houle (Signature Editions); Players by John Nyman (Palimpsest Press); This Being by Ingrid Ruthig (Fitzhenry & Whiteside); The Unlit Path Behind the House by Margo Wheaton (McGill-Queen’s University Press); and Songs of Exile by Bänoo Zan (Guernica Editions).

Six books are nominated for the Pat Lowther Memorial Award, given to a book of Canadian poetry written by a woman: 100 Days by Juliane Okot Bitek (University of Alberta Press); Float by Anne Carson (Knopf); Lady Crawford by Julie Cameron Gray (Palimpsest Press); Let the Empire Down by Alexandra Oliver (Biblioasis); Heaven’s Thieves by Sue Sinclair (Brick Books); and The Description of the World by Johanna Skibsrud (Wolsak & Wynn).

Shortlists for two additional awards also were announced, including the Raymond Souster Award, recognizing a collection written by a league member, and the Sheri-D Wilson Gold Beret Award, presented to a spoken-word artist.