The world’s largest international poetry prize for a single book of poetry written in, or translated in English
https://griffinpoetryprize.com/
Griffin Poetry
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The Trustees of the International Griffin Poetry Prize are pleased to announce that, after reviewing the comments and recommendations of the Canadian poetry community, several changes will be implemented. Please visit our website to read the full press release: griffinpoetryprize.com/press/2026-a...
✨ Congratulations to Kevin Young and all the shortlisted authors and publishers!
✨ A special mention goes to Melody Ovuakporoyecha, 2026 Finalist of Poetry in Voice/Les voix de la poésie, who gave a moving recitation of “I Am” by Titilope Sonuga.
The reading took place within a live performance by Armenian-Canadian pianist and composer Eve Egoyan, with filmmakers Lior Shamriz and Chloé Griffin presenting a filmic homage to Zurita’s poetry throughout.
✨ Scott Griffin presented Raúl Zurita with the 2026 Lifetime Recognition Award, followed by a reading by Zurita alongside his translator Anna Deeny Morales.
✨ The evening included readings by the 2026 shortlisted poets—Gbenga Adesina, Daniel Borzutzky, Aracelis Girmay, Elvira Hernández, Ange Mlinko, Alec Schumacher, Kevin Young—as well as Joseph Kidney, the Canadian First Book Prize winner.
✨ The judges praised the winning collection: “In his most experimental volume to date, Kevin Young’s 𝙉𝙞𝙜𝙝𝙩 𝙒𝙖𝙩𝙘𝙝 crafts a melancholic and haunting collection of sequence poems that layers multiple literary traditions with a dexterity that amounts to a provocation of sonic and epic proportions . . .”
✨Judges Andrea Cote, Luke Hathaway, and Major Jackson each read 461 books of poetry, including 34 translations from 19 languages, submitted by 219 publishers from 42 different countries.
