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.”