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Griffin Poetry Prize

ぐりふぃんししょう

An international poetry prize founded in 2000 by Scott Griffin. Awarded annually to a single collection of poetry written in or translated into English, with a prize of CAD30,000 — one of the largest prizes for a single poetry collection in the world.

PoetryTranslationCanadianInternational
Established
2000
Organizer
Griffin Trust For Excellence In Poetry and Scott Griffin
Category
Research, Translation, and Scholarship
Selection Method
Selection
Target
Professional
Frequency
1 per year
Announcement Period
around May–June
Status
Active

Description

The Griffin Poetry Prize was founded in 2000 by Scott Griffin and first awarded in 2001. It honours contemporary collections of poetry written in or translated into English. Eligible books must have been published in the prior calendar year (Jan 1–Dec 31) and submissions must be made by publishers. Historically the prize consisted of two annual awards (one Canadian, one international) with various prize amounts; amounts were increased in 2010 and in 2022 the two awards were consolidated into a single international prize (CAD$130,000). Shortlisted poets receive CAD$10,000; a Lifetime Recognition Award is accompanied by CAD$25,000. Since 2023 the Trust also administers a juried Canadian First Book Prize for a debut Canadian poet. Shortlists are announced in April and winners are announced at a public awards event in May or June.

Prize

Main Prize
Since 2022: single international prize of CAD$130,000 (winner). Shortlisted poets receive CAD$10,000; Lifetime Recognition Award: CAD$25,000. Historically there were separate Canadian and International prizes with different amounts.
Cash Prize
130,000 CAD
  • Shortlist award: CAD$10,000 each
  • Lifetime Recognition Award: CAD$25,000
  • Canadian First Book Prize: CAD$10,000 (since 2023)

Selection

Selection Process

Submission
Judges Submissions accepted from publishers only; eligible books published in the prior calendar year; trustees oversee the entry process
Shortlist selection
Judges A panel (typically three) of judges selected annually by the Trust's trustees
Announcement Shortlist announced in April (National Poetry Month)
Final selection and awards
Judges The same judging panel selects the winners after public readings by shortlisted poets
Announcement Winners announced at the awards event in May or June; shortlisted poets participate in readings

Criteria

  • Collections of poetry written in or translated into English
  • Publication within the prior calendar year (Jan 1–Dec 31)
  • Submission by a publisher (self-submission not accepted)
  • Literary excellence, originality and contribution to contemporary poetry
  • For translated works: quality of translation and literary merit

Application Tips

Dos

  • Must be submitted by the publisher (direct submission from authors not allowed)
  • Confirm that the publication date is within January 1–December 31 of the previous year
  • Clearly submit the overall format, table of contents, and publisher information for the entire poetry collection
  • For translated works, compile translator credits and translation-related information
  • Prepare for readings if shortlisted

Don''ts

  • Do not self-submit (submission by publisher is required)
  • Do not submit books published outside the target year
  • Do not send incomplete submission materials (be careful about omissions such as translation information)

From Judges

  • The overall consistency, structure, and feel of the collection are evaluated (emphasis on completion as a book rather than individual poems)
  • For translated works, fidelity to the original text as well as poetic quality in English are important
  • Expressive power in readings may also be evaluated, so prepare in advance for shortlisting

Related Awards

  • Latner Griffin Writers' Trust Poetry Prize
  • Griffin Canadian First Book Prize (since 2023)
  • Poetry In Voice / Les voix de la poésie (bilingual recitation contest)

Official Resources

https://griffinpoetryprize.com/

Past Winners

Karen Leeder かれん りーだー Winner

This selected volume surveys two decades of German poetry, layering historical echoes, dream fragments, and the memory of cities. Its blend of intellectual play and melancholy vision shows the wide reach of contemporary European poetry.

Through the echoes of history and fragments of dream, it reveals the depth of contemporary German poetry.

186 pages
contemporary German poetryhistory and memorydreamstranslated poetry
translator and scholar

A British translator and scholar of German literature. She won the Griffin Poetry Prize for a translated selection of poems from German.

George McWhirter じょーじ まくうぃるたー Winner

This selected volume moves between dream and reality, private memory and social scars, transforming Mexican landscapes and political tension into poetry. Mythic animals, family ghosts, and the atmosphere of the city overlap, and an aging poet's gaze gives the book its quiet force.

At the border of dream and reality, it turns memory and politics into poetry and light.

163 pages
dream and realitymemoryMexicopolitics and spirituality
Roger William Reeves ろじゃー りーぶす Winner

This is a poetry collection that moves between myth, family history, Black experience, and the violence of the present while pushing insistently toward freedom. Its references range widely across the literary and popular imagination, connecting private pain to a larger historical frame.

It opens a path between myth and the present, and gives shape to a voice moving toward freedom.

120 pages
race and identityloss and family historyviolence and freedommyth and contemporary culture
Tolu Oloruntoba とる おろるんとば Winner

The Junta of Happenstance is a debut poetry collection that threads politics, migration, and chance through fragmentary imagery. With quiet anger and irony, it makes contemporary unease sharply visible.

A sharp-edged poetry collection where politics and contingency intersect.

103 pages
poetry collectionmigrationpoliticschance
Douglas Kearney だぐらす かーにー Winner

Sho is an experimental poetry collection that uses Black vernacular, sonic repetition, and visual page design. It foregrounds bodily sensation and linguistic leaps, pushing poetry toward performance.

An experimental collection built to be read through sound and body.

104 pages
poetry collectionexperimental poetrysonic textureembodiment
Canisia Lubrin かにしあ らぶりん Winner

実験的な言語操作と抒情を組み合わせた詩集。植民地主義やディアスポラの記憶、個人的な喪失と再生を主題に、断片的な声と強いリズムで歴史の傷跡を浮かび上がらせる。語りのズレや造語を通じて言語の暴力と癒しを問う作品群。

実験的な言語操作と抒情を組み合わせた詩集。

88 pages
colonialismdiasporalanguage experimentationmemoryloss and renewal
Valzhyna Mort ゔぁるじな もーと Winner

喪失と復活、歴史と個人の記憶を音楽的な比喩で紡ぐ詩集。静謐なイメージと鋭い比喩を交え、亡者と生者の境界を行き来しながら言葉の響きで記憶の断片を再生するような構成が特徴。

喪失と復活、歴史と個人の記憶を音楽的な比喩で紡ぐ詩集。

91 pages
lossmemoryhistoryrenewal
Kaie Kellough かいえ・けろー Winner

詩と語り、音楽的要素を融合する実験的長篇。移民や都市の声、文化的交差をリズミカルに編み込み、言語と政治の交差点を描く。

詩と語り、音楽的要素を融合する実験的長篇。

112 pages
migrationsound poetrycity lifemulticulturalism
Sarah Riggs さら・りっぐず Winner

エテル・アドナンの詩集『Time』の英訳。詩人の時間観や記憶、歴史への視座を繊細な語感で移し、言語と時間をめぐる省察を提示する翻訳作品。

エテル・アドナンの詩集『Time』の英訳。

144 pages
translationtimememoryhistory
Eve Joseph いゔ・じょせふ Winner

A compact collection of prose poems that moves between the everyday and the surreal, finding meaning in the cracks.

A compact collection of prose poems that moves between the everyday and the surreal, finding meaning in the cracks.

85 pages
poetryprose poemssurrealismeveryday life
Don Mee Choi どん・みー・ちょい Winner

An English translation of Kim Hyesoon's poem cycle, treating death as collective grief, ritual, and reverence.

An English translation of Kim Hyesoon's poem cycle, treating death as collective grief, ritual, and reverence.

110 pages
poetrydeathtranslationloss
Billy-Ray Belcourt びりー・れい・べるこーと Winner

This poetry collection reconnects the body, desire, pain, and colonial memory of a queer Indigenous man through a voice that is both prayerful and critically alert. It opens personal wounds onto the structures of the world and offers love and sex as forms of resistance toward the future.

From personal wounds, the poems open a world that reconsiders colonialism and the possibilities of love.

61 pages
Indigeneityqueernessthe bodycolonialismlove and resistance
Susan Howe すーざん・はう Winner

Susan Howe's experimental collection brings together Paul Thek's art, the Isabella Stewart Gardner Museum, early American writings, and personal memory. Prose, fragments, and collage intersect as the book explores the depths of memory and archival material.

From gaps in documents and personal memory, histories that never fully become voice begin to surface.

144 pages
experimental poetryarchivesmemorycollageart and literature
Jordan Abel じょーだん・えいべる Winner

植民地主義的表象や辞書的言説を解体するコンセプト詩集。既存テキストの断片化を通じて、言語による抑圧と先住民の可視化を図る革新的な作品。

植民地主義的表象や辞書的言説を解体するコンセプト詩集。

96 pages
植民地主義先住民言語批評
Alice Oswald ありす・おずわるど Winner

自然や生命の循環を叙事的かつ詩的に描いた作品。声と間の交錯を用い、世界の再発見と時間性を鋭く照射する詩篇が並ぶ。

自然や生命の循環を叙事的かつ詩的に描いた作品。

96 pages
自然神話時間
Liz Howard りず・はわーど Winner

A poetry collection that crosses Indigenous storytelling, scientific imagination, and experimental language. It builds a layered sense of identity, history, and transformation.

A dense poetry collection where Indigenous voice meets scientific imagination.

112 pages
Indigenousidentitydreamslanguage
Norman Dubie のーまん・でゅびー Winner

A poetry collection that moves between historical imagery and imaginative association to explore violence, memory, and compassion. Its vivid sense of color and language stands out.

A poetry collection that joins history and imagination to rethink compassion.

117 pages
historymemoryimaginationbody
Jane Munro じぇーん・まんろー Winner

A poetry collection that looks at aging and loss through dreamscapes, prayer, and recollection. Its intimate voice carries both humor and quiet ache.

It gathers dreamscapes and prayers to gently hold the feeling of loss.

104 pages
naturememoryagingloss
Michael Longley まいける・ろんぐりー Winner

A poetry collection that follows loss and lived experience through the death of a brother and family memory. Homeric echoes deepen its structure, giving mourning a rich formal life.

A poetry collection that turns grief and memory into a carefully built form.

79 pages
familymemorywarmourning
Anne Patricia Carson あん・かーそん Winner
Brenda Hillman ぶれんだ・ひるまん Winner
David William McFadden でいゔぃっど・まくふぁでん Winner
Fady Joudah ふぁでぃ・じょうだ Winner
Ken Babstock けん・ばぶすとっく Winner
David Harsent でいゔぃっど・はーせんと Winner
Dionne Brand でぃおん・ぶらんど Winner
128 pages
Gjertrud Schnackenberg げるとるーど・しゅなっけんばーぐ Winner
76 pages
Karen Solie かれん・そりー Winner
100 pages
Eiléan Ní Chuilleanáin あいりーん・にー・くいれなーん Winner
65 pages
Adrienne Rich あどりえんぬ・りっち Special Award
A. F. Moritz えー・えふ・もりっつ Winner

Moritz’s poetry collection examines mortality, ethics, civilization, and the natural world with a calm but alert voice. Its poems move between inward reflection and social awareness.

A poetry collection that watches mortality, ethics, and the natural world.

112 pages
記憶存在introspection
C. D. Wright (Carolyn D. Wright) しー・でぃー・らいと Winner

Wright’s collection braids personal lyric with a broad political meditation, moving between Mexico, the Iraq War, and intimate domestic scenes. Its experimental forms sharpen questions of place, violence, and responsibility.

An experimental collection linking personal lyric with political unrest.

97 pages
実験詩community身体政治
Hans Magnus Enzensberger はんす=まぐぬす・えんぜんすべるがー Special Award
Robin Blaser ろびん・ぶれいざー Winner

A poetry collection centered on a journey to a small town in Japan. Through quiet observation of landscape, memory, and cultural exchange, it explores movement and belonging.

A quiet poetry collection that revisits landscape and memory through a journey to a small Japanese town.

96 pages
travelJapanmemorylandscapebelonging
John Ashbery じょん・あしゅべりー Winner

A selected volume of John Ashbery's later poetry. Its dreamlike associations and layered metaphors capture the instability of contemporary consciousness in lyrical form.

A selected volume that brings together Ashbery's later poems.

384 pages
stream of consciousnessmodernismmemorywordplay
Ko Un こ・うん Special Award
Don McKay どん・まっけい Winner

A poetry collection that fuses natural observation with philosophical meditation. Through a deep attention to Canadian landscapes and ecosystems, it poetically explores the relationship between humans and nature.

Language crosses the fault line with quiet force.

84 pages
natureecologyobservationphilosophy
Charles Wright ちゃーるず・らいと Winner

A poetry collection focused on death, loss, and spirituality. Through a concise, meditative style, it explores the relationship between language and silence while facing the fragility of existence.

Language traces the edge of silence and gives the pain of existence a dim light.

84 pages
deathlossspiritualitymeditation
Sylvia Legris しるゔぃあ・れぐりす Winner

Layering images of weather and the nervous system, the poetry collection sharply captures storms, sensory overload, and the vibration of language. Its dense verbal texture gives form to the sense that nature and the body continually invade one another.

When storm and nerve meet, language moves like an uneasy current.

128 pages
contemporary poetryweatherthe nervous systemembodied sensationlinguistic experiment
Edward Kamau Brathwaite かまう・ぶらずうぇいと Winner

A poetry collection woven from Caribbean memory and diaspora, island landscapes, language, ritual, and the texture of loss. Its shifting bodily sensations and historical awareness overlap in a tense, resonant voice.

The memory of the islands keeps moving beneath the words, quietly but insistently.

143 pages
contemporary poetrythe Caribbeandiasporamemoryritual
Robin Blaser ろびん・ぶれいざー Special Award
Roo Borson るー・ぼーそん Winner

A poetry collection built from observation and memory around Japanese landscapes and the experience of travel. It delicately evokes movement toward a distant place and the shifting sense of belonging that follows.

Landscapes of travel give rise to belonging and memory.

96 pages
travelJapanmemorylandscape
Charles Simic ちゃーるず・しみっく Winner

This selected-poems volume gathers Charles Simic's work from the 1950s through the early 2000s and shows a distinctive voice where memory, history, and humor intersect. Its short lines and sharp imagery turn everyday fragments into concentrated thought.

Across a long poetic career, a concise and sharply observant voice comes into focus.

176 pages
selected poemsmemoryhistoryhumor
Anne Simpson あん・しんぷそん Winner

A poetry collection centered on memory, family, and loss. Through repetition and fragmentary motifs, it turns private experience into broader poetic insight.

Memory and loss transformed into poetry through quiet repetition.

104 pages
memorylossfamilyreflection
August Kleinzahler おーがすと・くらいんざーれる Winner

A poetry collection that moves lightly among travel, cities, music, and art. Humor and intellectual association mingle as the poems travel freely between distant scenes and everyday fragments.

Free verse linking distant landscapes and urban fragments.

98 pages
travelcitiesmusichumor
Margaret Avison まーがれっと・あゔぃそん Winner
74 pages
Paul Muldoon ぽーる・まるどぅーん Winner
120 pages
Christian Bök くりすちゃん・ぼーく Winner

An experimental work of constraint poetry that assigns one chapter to each of the five vowels. Drawing on Oulipo, it turns linguistic restriction into play and craft, pushing the possibilities of English to an extreme.

Each chapter is built on a single vowel, remaking the contours of English.

105 pages
constraint poetryunivocalic writingphonetic playlinguistic experiment
Alice Elizabeth Notley ありす・のーとりー Winner

A long sequence of interconnected poems in which self-observation, anger, dream diary, and urban life intersect. It explores the experience of living in Paris as a woman and as a poet through language that is sharp yet humorous.

Rebellion becomes not just a subject but the shape of thought itself.

304 pages
linked poemsself-scrutinywomen's experienceParisian daily life
Anne Patricia Carson あん・かーそん Winner

A collection where classical references, film, myth, and fragmentary prose and poetry intersect. Carson summons figures such as Oedipus, Emily Dickinson, and Audubon, placing intellectual play and quiet grief on the same page.

Classical and modern, poetry and prose collide and settle into a single breath.

176 pages
reimagining the classicsthe meeting of poetry and prosememory and lossintellectual play
Nikolai Boris Popov にこらい・びー・ぽぽふ Winner

A selection of Paul Celan's poetry translated into English by Nikolai Popov and Heather McHugh. It carries over the dense language, broken syntax, and musical tension of Celan's post-Holocaust work, opening his poetic world to new readers.

Between rupture and resonance, Celan's poems gain a new English breath.

147 pages
translated poetrypost-Holocaust writingfractured languagemultilingual texture
Heather McHugh ひーざー・まくひゅー Winner

A selection of Paul Celan's poetry translated into English by Nikolai Popov and Heather McHugh. It carries over the dense language, broken syntax, and musical tension of Celan's post-Holocaust work, opening his poetic world to new readers.

Between rupture and resonance, Celan's poems gain a new English breath.

147 pages
translated poetrypost-Holocaust writingfractured languagemultilingual texture