Adina Bresge, The Canadian Press
TORONTO — The Griffin Poetry Prize is doubling its purse to $130,000 by consolidating its Canadian prize category into a single global competition.
For more than two decades, the Griffin has annually honored poets in two categories — one Canadian, one international — with prestigious prizes that, in recent years, have been worth $65,000 each.
The Griffin announced on Thursday that it was combining the prizes into a single prize, billed as the largest in the world for a unique first-edition poetry collection written or translated into English.
The new format will see Canadians compete against writers from around the world to make up a long list of 10 books, which will then be narrowed down to five finalists.
The Griffin also created a new $10,000 prize for a first book by a Canadian poet, which also includes a six-week residency in Italy. It will continue to distribute a lifetime recognition award of $25,000.
Toronto benefactor Scott Griffin says the changes reflect how the prize has helped raise the international profile of Canadian poetry, which was “relatively unknown” when the Griffin Trust was founded in 2000.
“Continuing with the Canadian prize, there was an implicit impression that Canadian poets were unable to compete or sit with the best international poets,” Griffin said by phone ahead of Thursday’s announcement. “And frankly, that’s not true.”
The Griffin has decorated a number of prominent Canadian poets, including Anne Carson, Dionne Brand, Nicole Brossard, Robin Blaser and David McFadden among its past recipients.
In recent years, the Canadian award has helped launch the careers of rising stars such as Billy-Ray Belcourt, Liz Howard and Tolu Oloruntoba, all of whom have been recognized for their early collections.
Griffin, a businessman and philanthropist, dismissed concerns that eliminating a dedicated Canadian prize could hurt local poets’ chances of being recognized both nationally and on the global literary scene. .
“After 22 years of giving Canadian poets a head start on this stage, I think it’s time for them to compete on a level playing field,” he said.
The purpose of the award is to foster appreciation for poetry that transcends international borders, Griffin said. However, he said, the revamped prize could do more to put Canadian poetry on the map by showing that the country is home to world-class writers.
“Wouldn’t it be fantastic if someone like Anne Carson won that first prize? he said of the Toronto-born poet, who twice won the Griffin’s Canadian honor. “Obviously she’s going to get a lot of coverage in Canada, but she’s got to get a lot of coverage around the world.”
Acclaimed Canadian author Ian Williams said he and his fellow Griffin administrators had spent years considering how to restructure the prize to better serve poets both at home and abroad.
Williams said earning a spot on the Griffin’s Canadian shortlist in 2013 for his second book of poetry, “Personals,” sent him on a literary trajectory that would lead him to win the Scotiabank Giller Prize in 2019.
The Brampton, Ont.-raised author said he’s confident Canadian poets will continue to benefit from Griffin’s spotlight while sharing it with writers from other countries.
“The effect of being in the company of other great poets will always have a significant effect on the careers of Canadian poets,” Williams said. “I just don’t see Canadians being ignored by… the spirit of the award. »
Margaret Atwood, who was among the founding directors of the Griffin, applauded the new rewards model in a statement Thursday.
“At a time when censorship and attacks on a wide range of writers are increasing in many countries, including the United States, it is heartening to see such a vote of confidence in poets coming from Canada.
The Griffin is expected to announce its 10-pound long list in March. The five finalists will be announced in April and the winner of the $130,000 prize will be named in Toronto on June 7.
This report from The Canadian Press was first published on September 8, 2022.
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