The Griffin Poetry Prize is Canada's most generous poetry award. It was founded in 2000 by businessman and philanthropist Scott Griffin. The 2 prizes awarded go to a Canadian poet and an international poet who write in the English language.
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 Forche joined the board of Trustees.
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. 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 of the poets are feted the following evening. Eligible collections of poetry must have been published between January 1 and December 31 of the prior year. Submission must come from the 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 10th anniversary. 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.
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.
Finalists, Judges and Lifetime Recognition Recipients[]
Winners are listed first and highlighted with bold:
2001-2010[]
2001[]
Canada:
- Anne Carson, Men in the Off Hours
- Robert Bringhurst, Nine Visits to the Mythworld
- Don McKay, Another Gravity
International:
- Nikolai Popov and Heather McHugh, translation of Glottal Stop: 101 Poems by Paul Celan
- Chana Bloch and Chana Kronfeld, translation of Open Closed Open by Yehuda Amichai
- Fanny Howe, Selected Poems
- Les Murray, Learning Human
Judges:
2002[]
Canada:
- Christian Bök, Eunoia
- Erin Mouré, Sheep's Vigil by a Fervent Person
- Karen Solie, Short Haul Engine
International:
- Alice Notley, Disobedience
- Victor Hernandez Cruz, Maraca
- Christopher Logue, Homer: War Music
- Les Murray, Conscious and Verbal
Judges:
2003[]
Canada:
- Margaret Avison, Concrete and Wild Carrot
- Dionne Brand, thirsty
- P.K. Page, Planet Earth: Poems Selected and New
International:
- Paul Muldoon, Moy sand and gravel
- Kathleen Jamie, Mr And Mrs Scotland are Dead: Poems 1980-1994
- Gerald Stern, American Sonnets: poems
- C.D. Wright, Steal Away: selected and new poems
Judges:
2004[]
Canada:
- Anne Simpson, Loop
- Di Brandt, Now You Care
- Leslie Greentree, Go-go Dancing for Elvis
International:
- August Kleinzahler, The Strange Hours Travelers Keep
- Suji Kwock Kim, Notes From the Divided Country
- David Kirby, The Ha-Ha
- Louis Simpson, The Owner of the House
Judges:
2005[]
Canada:
- Roo Borson, Short Journey Upriver Toward Oishida
- George Bowering, Changing on the Fly
- Don McKay, Camber
International:
- Charles Simic, Selected Poems: 1963-2003
- Fanny Howe, On the Ground
- Michael Symmons Roberts, Corpus
- Matthew Rohrer, A Green Light
Judges:
- Simon Armitage
- Erin Mouré
- Tomaž Šalamun
2006[]
Canada:
- Sylvia Legris, Nerve Squall
- Phil Hall, An Oak Hunch
- Erin Mouré, Little theatres
International:
- Kamau Brathwaite, Born to Slow Horses
- Michael Hofmann, translation of Ashes for Breakfast: Selected Poems by Durs Grünbein
- Michael Palmer, Company of Moths
- Elizabeth Winslow, translation of The War Works Hard by Dunya Mikhail
Judges:
- Lavinia Greenlaw
- Lisa Robertson
- Eliot Weinberger
Lifetime Recognition Award (presented by the Griffin trustees) to Robin Blaser
2007[]
Canada:
- Don McKay, Strike/Slip
- Ken Babstock, Airstream Land Yacht
- Priscila Uppal, Ontological Necessities
International:
- Charles Wright, Scar Tissue
- Paul Farley, Tramp in Flames
- Rodney Jones, Salvation Blues
- Frederick Seidel, Ooga-Booga
Judges:
Lifetime Recognition Award (presented by the Griffin trustees) to Tomas Transtromer
2008[]
Canada:
- Robin Blaser, The Holy Forest: Collected Poems of Robin Blaser
- Robert Majzels and Erin Moure, translation of Notebook of Roses and Civilization by Nicole Brossard
- David McFadden, Why Are You So Sad? Selected Poems of David W. McFadden
International:
- John Ashbery, Notes from the Air: Selected Later Poems
- Elaine Equi, Ripple Effect: New and Selected Poems
- Clayton Eshleman, translation of The Complete Poetry: A bilingual edition by Cesar Vallejo
- David Harsent, Selected Poems, 1969-2005
Judges:
- George Bowering
- James Lasdun
- Pura Lopez Colome
Lifetime Recognition Award (presented by the Griffin trustees) to Ko Un
2009[]
Canada:
- A.F. Moritz, The Sentinel
- Kevin Connolly, Revolver
- Jeramy Dodds, Crabwise to the Hounds
International:
- C.D. Wright, Rising, Falling, Hovering
- Mick Imlah, The Lost Leader
- Derek Mahon, Life on Earth
- Dean Young, Primitive Mentor
Judges:
Lifetime Recognition Award (presented by the Griffin trustees) to Hans Magnus Enzensberger
2010[]
Canada:
- Karen Solie, Pigeon
- Kate Hall, The Certainty Dream
- P.K. Page, Coal and Roses
International:
- Eilean Ni Chuilleanain, The Sun-fish
- John Glenday, Grain
- Louise Gluck, A Village Life
- Susan Wicks, translation of Cold Spring in Winter by Valerie Rouzeau
Judges:
Lifetime Recognition Award (presented by the Griffin trustees) to Adrienne Rich
2011-2020[]
2011[]
Canada:
- Dionne Brand, Ossuaries
- Suzanne Buffam, The Irrationalist
- John Steffler, Lookout
International:
- Seamus Heaney, Human Chain
- Khaled Mattawa, translation of Adonis: Selected Poems by Adonis
- Philip Mosley, translation of The Book of the Snow by Francois Jacqmin
- Gjertrud Schnackenberg, Heavenly Questions
Judges:
- Tim Lilburn
- Colm Toibin
- Chase Twichell
2012[]
Canada:
- Ken Babstock, Methodist Hatchet
- Phil Hall, Killdeer
- Jan Zwicky, Forge
International:
- David Harsent, Night
- Yusef Komunyakaa, The Chameleon Couch
- Sean O'Brien, November
- Joanna Trzeciak, translation of Sobbing Superpower: Selected Poems of Tadeusz Rózewicz
Judges:
- Heather McHugh
- David O'Meara
- Fiona Sampson
Lifetime Recognition Award (presented by the Griffin trustees) to Seamus Heaney
Guest performer at awards ceremony: Alexander Gagliano, Poetry In Voice recitation champion
2013[]
Canada:
- David McFadden, What's the Score?
- James Pollock, Sailing to Babylon
- Ian Williams, Personals
International:
- Fady Joudah, translation of The Straw Bird It Follows Me, and Other Poems by Ghassan Zaqtan
- Jennifer Maiden, Liquid Nitrogen
- Alan Shapiro, Night of the Republic
- Brenda Shaughnessy, Our Andromeda
Judges:
- Suzanne Buffam
- Mark Doty
- Wang Ping
Guest performer at awards ceremony: Kyla Kane, Poetry In Voice recitation champion
Guest speaker at awards ceremony: Pura López Colomé
2014[]
Canada:
- Anne Carson, Red Doc>
- Sue Goyette, Ocean
- Anne Michaels, Correspondences
International:
- Brenda Hillman, Seasonal Works with Letters on Fire
- Rachael Boast, Pilgrim's Flower
- Carl Phillips, Silverchest
- Mira Rosenthal, translation of Colonies by Tomasz Rozycki
Judges:
Lifetime Recognition Award (presented by the Griffin trustees) to Adelia Prado
Guest performer at awards ceremony: Khalil Mair, Poetry In Voice recitation champion
Guest speaker at awards ceremony: August Kleinzahler
2015[]
Canada:
- Jane Munro, Blue Sonoma
- Shane Book, Congotronic
- Russell Thornton, The Hundred Lives
International:
- Michael Longley, The Stairwell
- Eleanor Goodman, translation of Something Crosses My Mind by Wang Xiaoni
- Marek Kazmierski, translation of Finite Formulae & Theories of Chance by Wioletta Greg
- Spencer Reece, The Road to Emmaus
Judges:
- Tim Bowling
- Fanny Howe
- Piotr Sommer
Lifetime Recognition Award (presented by the Griffin trustees) to Derek Walcott
Guest performer at awards ceremony: Ayo Akinfenwa, Poetry In Voice recitation champion
2016[]
Canada:
- Liz Howard, Infinite Citizen of the Shaking Tent[1]
- Per Brask and Patrick Friesen, translation of Frayed Opus for Strings & Wind Instruments by Ulrikka S. Gernes
- Soraya Peerbaye, Tell: poems for a girlhood
International:
- Norman Dubie, The Quotations of Bone[1]
- Joy Harjo, Conflict Resolution for Holy Beings
- Don Paterson, 40 Sonnets
- Rowan Ricardo Phillips, Heaven
Judges:[1]
- Alice Oswald
- Tracy K. Smith
- Adam Sol
Lifetime Recognition Award (presented by the Griffin trustees) to Adam Zagajewski.[1]
Guest performer at awards ceremony: Marie Foolchand, Poetry In Voice recitation champion
2017[]
Judges:
- Sue Goyette
- Joan Naviyuk Kane
- George Szirtes
Shortlist to be announced: April 11, 2017
Winners to be announced: June 8, 2017
See also[]
See also[]
- Canadian poetry
- List of poetry awards
- List of years in poetry
- List of years in literature
- Timeline of Canadian poetry
External links[]
- Griffin Poetry Prize official website
- Poetry readings podcast feed
- Griffin Poetry Prize on Twitter
- Griffin Poetry Prize on YouTube
- Griffin Poetry Prize on Facebook
- Griffin Prize for Excellence In Poetry at Representative Poetry Online.
- Poetry In Voice/Les voix de la poesie website
- Poets performing prose is the real prize Toronto Star
- Griffin Poetry Prize doubles award money The Globe and Mail
- Griffin Poetry Prize turns 10 Toronto Star
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