The League of Canadian Poets has announced the winners of this year’s book awards.
Bertrand Bickersteth is the winner of the Gerald Lampert Memorial Award for
The Response of Weeds (NeWest Press). The $2,000 award is given annually to a debut book of poetry. In their citation, jurors DA Lockhart, Nisha Patel, and Phoebe Wang call the book, which explores what it means to be Black and Albertan, “a work of research of a stunning range, occupying a powerful space in Canadian poetry.”
Noor Naga is the winner of the Pat Lowther Memorial Award for her debut novel-in-verse
Washes, Prays (McClelland & Stewart), about a young woman’s affair with a married man and her crisis of faith that follows. The $2,000 award is open to Canadian women. In their citation, jurors Puneet Dutt, Doyali Islam, and Cassidy McFadzean describe Naga’s work as “technically flawless – and thus achingly full of what it means to be human.”
Jillian Christmas, Bertrand Bickersteth & Ian Williams among finalists for League of Canadian Poets awards
The Gerald Lampert Memorial Award, Pat Lowther Memorial Award and Raymond Souster Award, each worth $2,000, celebrate the best in Canadian poetry.
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Posted: Apr 15, 2021 12:33 PM ET | Last Updated: April 15
Jillian Christmas, Bertrand Bickersteth and Ian Williams are among finalists for League of Canadian Poets awards.(K. Ho, NeWest Press, Justin Morris)
To say that Steven Heighton has done well for himself over his nearly 40-year career is a bit of an understatement. In both poetry and fiction, Heightonâs rise to royalty in the CanLit world has been long and storied. But he hasnât just been making a name for himself: heâs been making a name around the world for all of us.
Even though he was young enough to hang with and mentor Gen X poets, his work feels more like it belongs with his own mentors in the Atwood/Cohen/Ondaatje/Purdy set, both in terms of accomplishment and impact. A poetâs poet with rakish good looks, zippered leather jackets, and jeans slung carefree on a wiry frame, thereâs always been a bit of a âbad boyâ quality about him, but that impression seems at odds with his soft-spoken, funny, generous, and philosophical in-person presence.
Biblioasis, Jan.
Vancouver writer Keath Fraser is one of this country’s most robust and individual literary voices; though despite a career that includes winning the Chapters/
Books in Canada First Novel Award for 1995’s
Popular Anatomy and being nominated for a Governor General’s Literary Award for the story collection
Foreign Affairs a decade earlier, he is generally consigned to cult status at best in Canada.
With luck, all that will change in spring, when Biblioasis releases not one but two editions of the author’s work. The massive retrospective volume
Damages features stories selected from throughout Fraser’s career, beginning with the 1982 collection