2026 Judges
Andrea Cote
Andrea Cote is the author of Querida Beth / Dear Beth (2025), En las praderas del fin del mundo / In the Prairies of the End of the World (2019), La ruina que nombro / The Ruin that I Name (2015), and Puerto calcinado / Port in Ashes (2003; 2010), among others. Cote has received the the National Poetry Prize from the Universidad Externado of Colombia (2003), the Bridges of Struga International Poetry Award (2005), the Città di Castrovillari Prize (2010), and the XXIV Premio Casa de América de Poesía Americana (2024), among other honours. Her poems have been translated into numerous languages, and she has translated the poets Tracy K. Smith and Jericho Brown into Spanish.
Luke Hathaway
Luke Hathaway is a trans and queer poet, lyricist/librettist, and theatre-maker whose work has been celebrated as “deftly conversant” with its sources in tradition; and, at the same time, as superbly musical. He is the author of four books of poems as well as numerous chapbook and broadside publications, and the co-creator of many works for stage—including, most recently, the immersive opera Eurydice Fragments (re:naissance opera, 2024). Hathaway frequently works with singer-scholar Daniel Cabena as part of the ensemble ANIMA—“a place of queer friendship and sustaining story: a place where old texts and melodies are animated by spirit and voice.” He teaches English and creative writing at Saint Mary’s University in Kjipuktuk/Halifax, Canada.
Major Jackson
Major Jackson is the author of six books of poetry, most recently Razzle Dazzle: New & Selected Poems. He is also the author of A Beat Beyond: The Selected Prose of Major Jackson, edited by Amor Kohli. A recipient of fellowships from the Civitella Ranieri Foundation, the Academy of American Poets, the John S. Guggenheim Foundation, the National Endowment for the Arts, and the Radcliffe Institute for Advanced Study, Major Jackson is the Gertrude Conaway Vanderbilt Chair in the Humanities at Vanderbilt University. He is an elected member of the American Academy of Arts and Sciences. He serves as the Poetry Editor of The Harvard Review. From 2023–2025, he hosted the award-winning podcast The Slowdown. Major Jackson was recently named the inaugural recipient of the Patricia Cannon Willis Prize for American Poetry from Yale Library.
Important Dates
March 25, 2026
Griffin Poetry Prize Longlist
April 22, 2026
Griffin Poetry Prize Shortlist
MAY 6, 2026
Lifetime Recognition Award Recipient announced
MAY 20, 2026
Canadian First Book Prize Winner announced
JUNE 3, 2026
Griffin Poetry Prize Readings and Winner announced in Toronto, Canada
The Prize
A History of Excellence
The Griffin Poetry Prize is one of the world’s most generous poetry awards. As of 2023, the prize is worth C$130,000, making it the world’s largest international prize for a single book of poetry written in, or translated into English. The other shortlisted poets each receive $10,000. Explore the 25-year history of the Griffin Poetry Prize here.
Additionally, a new $10,000 prize is awarded for a Canadian First Book of poetry, along with a six-week residency in Italy in partnership with the Civitella Ranieri Foundation to a Canadian Citizen, or permanent resident, for a first book written in English. A Lifetime Recognition Award is awarded by the trustees in the sum of C$25,000.
The Griffin Poetry Prize has been acknowledging and encouraging poets for twenty-two years. At a time when censorship and attacks on a diverse array of writers are on the rise in many countries – including the United States – it’s heartening to see such a strong vote of confidence in poets coming from Canada. Poetry is not a minor art form; it is the crucible of human language.
Margaret Atwood, Founding Trustee