Griffin Poetry Prize

The Griffin Poetry Prize is Canada's most generous poetry award. It was founded in 2000 by businessman and philanthropist Scott Griffin.

Griffin Poetry Prize
Awarded forCanadian and International awards for poetry written in or translated into English
CountryCanada
Presented byGriffin Trust For Excellence In Poetry and Scott Griffin
First awarded2001 (2001)
Websitewww.griffinpoetryprize.com

Before 2022, two separate awards went to one Canadian and one international poet who writes in the English language.[1] In 2022, the two awards were consolidated into a single international prize of CAD$130,000.[2] Shortlisted poets are awarded CAD$10,000, and a Lifetime Recognition Award comes with an award of CAD$25,000.

Concurrently with the merger, the Griffin Poetry Prize also introduced a juried Canadian First Book Prize to honor the year's best debut book by a Canadian poet.[3]

History

In April 2000, Scott Griffin started the Griffin Trust to raise public awareness of the crucial role poetry plays in society's cultural life. Griffin served as its Chairman, with Trustees Margaret Atwood, Robert Hass, Michael Ondaatje, Robin Robertson and David Young. In June 2004, Carolyn Forché joined the board of Trustees. New trustees have been named as follows: in 2014, Karen Solie, Colm Tóibín and Mark Doty, in 2016, Jo Shapcott and Marek Kazmierski, in 2018, Ian Williams and in 2020, Sarah Howe. Margaret Atwood, Robert Hass, Michael Ondaatje, Robin Robertson, Jo Shapcott and Colm Tóibín have assumed the role of Trustees Emeriti.

The Trust created the Griffin Poetry Prize with the aim of helping to introduce contemporary collections of poetry to the public's imagination. Originally, the award was two annual prizes of CAD$40,000 each, for collections of poetry published in English during the preceding year.[4] One prize for a living Canadian poet, the other to a living poet from any other country, which could include Canada. Qualified judges are selected annually by the Trustees. The prize shortlists are announced in April (National Poetry Month) every year. The shortlisted poets gather for an evening of public readings every May/June, and the winners are announced and all the poets are feted the following evening.

Each year, selections from the shortlisted works are gathered in The Griffin Poetry Prize Anthology,[5] typically edited by one of that year's judges. In 2019, House of Anansi Press partnered with the National Network for Equitable Library Services (NNELS) to offer the anthology in print and digital Braille editions.[6]

Eligible collections of poetry must have been published between January 1 and December 31 of the prior year. Submissions must come from publishers only.

Effective 2010, the annual Griffin Poetry Prize was doubled from CAD$100,000 to CAD$200,000 in recognition of the prize’s tenth anniversary.[7][8] The increased amount of $100,000 will be awarded as follows: CAD$10,000 to each of the seven shortlisted – four international and three Canadian – for their participation in the shortlist readings. The winners, announced at the Griffin Poetry Prize Awards evening, will be awarded CAD$65,000 each, for a total of CAD$75,000 that includes the CAD$10,000 awarded at the readings the previous evening.[7]

In November 2010, Scott Griffin announced a new Griffin Trust initiative called Poetry In Voice/Les voix de la poésie, a bilingual recitation contest for high school students across Canada.[9][10]

The Griffin Trust has championed other initiatives since its inception, including a statue in tribute to poet Al Purdy,[11] participation in international poetry festivals, and donations of poetry books to various organizations, including the Correctional Service of Canada, Scottish Poetry Library, Slave Lake Public Library (which was destroyed in a wildfire in 2011) and other libraries, schools and colleges.[12]

Griffin Poetry Prize officials announced in 2022 that the Canadian and international awards would be consolidated into a single award of CAD$130,000.[13] Founder Scott Griffin, who originally believed that Canadian poets needed a separate category, said that "now that a lot of Canadians have been recognized in the poetry world, we felt it was time they had to compete on the international stage with everybody else". An award of CAD$10,000 for a debut work of Canadian poetry was also announced.[2] Critics from within Canadian poetry expressed concern about loss of opportunities "given the role the award played in securing grants and jobs".[14] Alicia Elliot critiqued the timing of this change happening, "in the midst of a rather remarkable run for Black poets, Indigenous poets and poets of colour nominated for the Canadian portion" of the prize, and suggests that this change implies that Canadian literature "is only relevant and worthwhile if it is being praised internationally."[15]

In April 2023, Griffin gave an endowment to the Writers' Trust of Canada to expand the prize package for what is now the Latner Griffin Writers' Trust Poetry Prize.[16]

Finalists, judges and Lifetime Recognition recipients

Winners are listed first and highlighted with bold.

2001

Canada:

International:

Judges:

Guest performer at awards ceremony: Gord Downie

2002

Canada:

International:

Judges:

Guest host at awards ceremony: Albert Schultz

2003

Canada:

International:

Judges:

Guest speaker at awards ceremony: Heather McHugh

2004

Canada:

International:

Judges:

2005

Canada:

International:

Judges:

Guest speaker at awards ceremony: August Kleinzahler

2006

Canada:

International:

Judges:

Lifetime Recognition Award (presented by the Griffin trustees) to Robin Blaser

Guest speaker at awards ceremony: Simon Armitage

2007

Canada:

International:

Judges:

Lifetime Recognition Award (presented by the Griffin trustees) to Tomas Tranströmer

Guest speaker at awards ceremony: Matthew Rohrer

2008

Canada:

International:

Judges:

Lifetime Recognition Award (presented by the Griffin trustees) to Ko Un[21]

Guest speaker at awards ceremony: Paul Farley

2009

Canada:

International:

Judges:

Lifetime Recognition Award (presented by the Griffin trustees) to Hans Magnus Enzensberger

Guest speaker at awards ceremony: James Wood

2010

Canada:

International:

Judges:

Lifetime Recognition Award (presented by the Griffin trustees) to Adrienne Rich

Guest speaker at awards ceremony: Glyn Maxwell

2011

Canada:

International:

Judges:

Lifetime Recognition Award (presented by the Griffin trustees) to Yves Bonnefoy

Guest performer at awards ceremony: Jonathan Welstead, National Poetry In Voice recitation champion

2012

Canada:

International:

Judges:

Lifetime Recognition Award (presented by the Griffin trustees) to Seamus Heaney

Guest performer at awards ceremony: Alexander Gagliano, National Poetry In Voice recitation champion

2013

Canada:

International:

Judges:

Guest performer at awards ceremony: Kyla Kane, National Poetry In Voice recitation champion

Guest speaker at awards ceremony: Pura López Colomé

2014

Canada:

International:

Judges:

Lifetime Recognition Award (presented by the Griffin trustees) to Adelia Prado

Guest performer at awards ceremony: Khalil Mair, National Poetry In Voice recitation champion

Guest speaker at awards ceremony: August Kleinzahler

2015

Canada:

International:

Judges:

Lifetime Recognition Award (presented by the Griffin trustees) to Derek Walcott

Guest performer at awards ceremony: Ayo Akinfenwa, National Poetry In Voice recitation champion

2016

Canada:

  • Liz Howard, Infinite Citizen of the Shaking Tent[22]
  • Per Brask and Patrick Friesen, translation of Frayed Opus for Strings & Wind Instruments from the Danish written by Ulrikka S. Gernes
  • Soraya Peerbaye, Tell: poems for a girlhood

International:

Judges:[22]

Lifetime Recognition Award (presented by the Griffin trustees) to Adam Zagajewski.[22]

Guest performer at awards ceremony: Marie Foolchand, National Poetry In Voice recitation champion

2017

Canada:

International:

Judges:

Lifetime Recognition Award (presented by the Griffin trustees) to Frank Bidart.[24]

Guest performer at awards ceremony: David White, National Poetry In Voice recitation finalist

2018

Canada:

International:

Judges:

Lifetime Recognition Award (announced by the Griffin trustees) to Ana Blandiana.[25]

Guest performer at awards ceremony: Hamish Marissen-Clark, National Poetry In Voice recitation champion

Guest speaker at awards ceremony: August Kleinzahler, 2004 Griffin Poetry Prize winner

2019

Canada:

International:

Judges:

Lifetime Recognition Award (announced by the Griffin trustees) to Nicole Brossard.[26]

Guest performer at awards ceremony: Catricia Hiebert, National Poetry In Voice recitation champion

2020

Canada:

International:

  • Sarah Riggs, translation of Time from the French written by Etel Adnan
  • Abigail Chabitnoy, How to Dress a Fish
  • Sharon Olds, Arias
  • Natalie Scenters-Zapico, Lima :: Limón

Judges:

2021

Canada:

International:

Judges:

2022

Canada:

International:

Judges:

2023

Winner to be announced June 7, 2023.[29]

Canadian First Book Prize: Blue ribbon Emily Riddle, The Big Melt[3]

See also

References
  1. "Griffin Poetry Prize – Rules", Griffin Poetry Prize, archived from the original on 2019-02-09, retrieved 2013-09-30
  2. "Griffin Poetry Prize merges, and expands, annual awards". AP News. September 8, 2022.
  3. Cassandra Drudi, "Emily Riddle wins inaugural $10K Griffin Canadian First Book Prize". Quill & Quire, May 17, 2023.
  4. "Griffin Poetry Prize: 2000–2004 Coverage". Griffin Poetry Prize. Retrieved 2019-07-24.
  5. "griffin anthology". House of Anansi Press. Retrieved 2019-07-24.
  6. "Poetry You Can Touch". House of Anansi Press. Retrieved 3 March 2022.
  7. "The Griffin Poetry Prize Announces Prize Award Increase from $100,000 to $200,000 and the 2010 International and Canadian Shortlist". The Griffin Trust. griffinpoetryprize.com. April 6, 2010. Archived from the original on February 9, 2019. Retrieved September 30, 2013.
  8. "P. K. Page, Karen Solie, and Kate Hall vie for a more lucrative Griffin (April 6, 2010) – Quill and Quire". Archived from the original on October 23, 2013. Retrieved September 30, 2013.
  9. "Bilingual Poetry Recitation Contest Announced | Poetry In Voice". www.poetryinvoice.com. Retrieved 3 March 2022.
  10. "National Post". nationalpost. Retrieved 3 March 2022.
  11. Literary luminaries attend unveiling of statue of 'people's poet' Al Purdy (May 21, 2008) – The Canadian Press
  12. "Griffin Poetry Prize: Initiatives". Retrieved 3 March 2022.
  13. "Announcing the World's Largest International Prize for a Single Book of Poetry". Griffin Poetry Prize. Retrieved September 8, 2022.
  14. Perry, Amanda (6 January 2023). "The Griffin Poetry Prize Shakeup: New Rules, New Controversy". The Walrus. Retrieved 6 April 2023.
  15. Elliott, Alicia (20 September 2022). "Why the Griffin Poetry Prize combining its awards is bad news for Canadian poets". CBC Arts. Canadian Broadcasting Corporation. Retrieved 6 April 2023.
  16. Nicole Thompson, "Writers’ Trust Poetry Prize more than doubles to $60K with Scott Griffin contribution". Toronto Star, April 5, 2023.
  17. "Anne Carson wins poetry prize", CBC News, 8 June 2001.
  18. "poetryinternationalweb.net – poetryinternationalweb Resources and Information". www.poetryinternationalweb.net. Retrieved 3 March 2022.
  19. "Christian Bök – Griffin Poetry Prize 2002 – Canadian Winner". The Griffin Trust.
  20. "Another prize for B.C. poet Robin Blaser, and some advice",Vancouver Sun, 6 June 2008.
  21. "Robin Blaser and Ko Un Win Griffin Poetry Prizes!", University of California Press blog, 5 June 2008.
  22. Mark Medley (3 June 2016). "'This is a debut book – holy crap': Liz Howard takes the $65,000 Griffin Poetry Prize". The Globe and Sun.
  23. "Jordan Abel wins $65K Griffin Poetry Prize for Injun". Retrieved 8 June 2017.
  24. "2017 – Frank Bidart". Archived from the original on 20 October 2018. Retrieved 8 June 2017.
  25. "2018 – Ana Blandiana". Retrieved 11 October 2017.
  26. "2019 – Nicole Brossard". Archived from the original on 24 December 2019. Retrieved 24 April 2019.
  27. Adina Bresge, "Canisia Lubrin named Canadian winner of $65K Griffin Poetry Prize". CP24, June 23, 2021.
  28. Adina Bresge, "B.C. writer Tolu Oloruntoba wins $65K Griffin Poetry Prize for debut book". Toronto Star, June 15, 2022.
  29. Cassandra Drudi, "Susan Musgrave, Iman Mersal among Griffin Poetry Prize finalists". Quill & Quire, April 19, 2023.
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