Two new spoken word poetry prizes – the Lillian Allen Prize, for an established artist, and the Lillian Allen Emerging Artist Prize, for a poet who has been working professionally for fewer than five years – have been established by the Ontario Arts Council in partnership with the League of Canadian Poets.

The prizes, worth $2,000 each, will be awarded annually to spoken word poetry artists working in English or French. The prizes will recognize poets from Ontario and Canada on a rotating basis, with poets based in Ontario recognized this year; in year two poets based anywhere in Canada will be eligible.

The prizes are named after the internationally recognized Canadian poet, spoken word artist, educator and activist Lillian Allen who is currently Toronto’s poet laureate. Allen called the awards “a beautiful honour,” in the press release announcing the prize. Allen is the author of several collections of poetry and books and recordings for children and young people. She is also a creative writing professor at Ontario College of Art and Design University (OCAD U), the founder of the Toronto International Dub Poetry Festival, and is a two-time winner of the Juno Award for Best Reggae / Calypso Recording.

The Lillian Allen Prizes are the second new poetry prizes created in 2024. The Al and Eurithe Purdy Poetry Prize was announced in March, and the inaugural prize was awarded in April.

The nomination process will be managed by the League of Canadian Poets. Details on the nomination process will be made available in May.