TORONTO 鈥� A collection of poetry about the horrors of the war in Ukraine and the spiritual words of a celebrated Mexican poet are among the works on this year鈥檚 long list for the Griffin Poetry Prize.聽
鈥淎 Crash Course in Molotov Cocktails鈥� by Halyna Kruk, translated from Ukrainian by Amelia M. Glaser and Yuliya Ilchuk, is among the 10 books of poetry written in, or translated into, English.
Also longlisted is 鈥淪elf-Portrait in the Zone of Silence鈥� by Homero Aridjis, translated from Spanish by George McWhirter, a Belfast-born Canadian writer who served as Vancouver鈥檚 first poet laureate.聽
Another Canadian name on the long list is Montreal-based writer Emilie Moorhouse, who translated from French an Egyptian-French poet鈥檚 collection, 鈥淓merald Wounds: Selected Poems of Joyce Mansour.鈥�
Five shortlisted books will be announced April 17 and the winner will be crowned at the Griffin Poetry Prize Readings, held in Toronto on June 5.
The winner will receive $130,000 while the other shortlisted finalists will each get $10,000.
Most of the longlisted works are by U.S. poets, including 鈥淭o 2040鈥� by Jorie Graham, 鈥淒oor鈥� by Ann Lauterbach, 鈥淭he Lights,鈥� by Ben Lerner, 鈥淎nd And And鈥� by Cole Swensen and 鈥減erennial fashion presence falling鈥� by Fred Moten.
The judges also listed 鈥淭o the Letter,鈥� by Tomasz R贸偶ycki, translated from Polish by Mira Rosenthal, and 鈥淪chool of Instructions鈥� by Jamaican poet Ishion Hutchinson.
The three judges for the international prize said they considered 592 books of poetry 鈥� nearly 50 of them translations 鈥� submitted from 14 countries. One of the judges is Canadian poet Albert F. Moritz.
This report by The Canadian Press was first published March 20, 2024.
The Canadian Press
