Poets Adeena Karasick and Ian Keteku have won the inaugural League of Canadian Poets Spoken Word Award.

The annual award celebrates the wide range of styles within the spoken word genre, “from dub poetry to spoken word poetry to sound poetry and beyond.” Each of two winners receives $1,000.

Karasick and Keteku were on a nine-poet shortlist announced last week.

Karasick, a sound poet, won for her homophonic translation “Eicha: The Book of Lumenations.” “A simultaneous act of lamentation and ecstatic intertextual exploration, Karasick’s performance traverses sonic texture and electroacoustic manipulation to resound with a symphony of hope and sorrow,” juror Eric Schmaltz said in a statement.

Keteku is a spoken-word poet who won for a triptych: “Mr. Tally Man,” “the space between,” and “The Light. “With impeccable comedic timing and understated affect, Keteku’s performances are a triumph of wordplay and musicality, driven by wisdom and humanity – alive as a heartbeat,” juror Andrea Thompson said in a release.

The LCP Spoken Word Award recognizes two poems or suites of poems that represent two distinct schools of spoken word poetry.

The winning performances can be heard on the League of Canadian Poets website.