“We need our prize back”: Canadian poets feel buoyed by the reinstatement of the Canadian Griffin Poetry Prize
"The opportunity that a prize like this provides is not the opportunity to compete. It is the opportunity to be seen."
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A Blog About Books and Reading
"The opportunity that a prize like this provides is not the opportunity to compete. It is the opportunity to be seen."
Griffin has said that he wants to listen to the poetry community in this country with a open mind.
Griffin's sunny confidence about Canadians' ability to "sit with the best internationally" is being sorely tested.
If deep-pocketed institutions and organizations – and prizes – in this country aren't doing enough to support and elevate Canadian poetry, then it's up to the rest of us.
Fully seven of the ten longlisted titles are published by American houses.
Last year was the first under the new prize regime.
This list, selected by jurors A.F. Moritz (Canada), Jan Wagner (Germany), and Anne Waldman (U.S.), will not do much to mollify critics of the new prize regime.
It is very easy to imagine a five-book shortlist on which not a single Canadian appears.
The elimination of the Canadian category makes it that much harder for domestic poets to access time in the spotlight.