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2023 Shortlist

The Threshold Shortlisted

translated from the Arabic written by
Iman MersalEgypt/Canada
Farrar, Straus and Giroux, USA

The Hurting Kind Shortlisted

Little, Brown Book Group/Corsair, UK
Susan MusgraveCanada

Exculpatory Lilies Shortlisted

McClelland & Stewart, Canada

Best Barbarian Shortlisted

W. W. Norton & Company, USA
Ocean VuongVietnam/USA

Time Is a Mother Shortlisted

Cape Poetry, UK
Penguin Press, USA


The Prize

A History of Excellence

The Griffin Poetry Prize is one of the world’s most generous poetry awards. In celebration of the Prize’s two-decade anniversary it announced its largest award to date, combining the existing International and Canadian prizes into one major prize. 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 C$10,000.

Additionally, a new C$10,000 prize will be awarded in June 2023 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. 

Lifetime Recognition Award is awarded by the trustees in the sum of C$25,000.

Explore the 22-year history of the Griffin Poetry Prize here.

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