News

TORONTO – Tuesday, May 19, 2020 – Time by Sarah Riggs, translated from the French written by Etel Adnan (Nightboat Books) and Magnetic Equator by Kaie Kellough (McClelland & Stewart) are the International and Canadian winners of the 2020 Griffin Poetry Prize, each receiving C$65,000 in prize money. The other shortlist finalists will be awarded $10,000 each.

THE 2020 GRIFFIN POETRY PRIZE WINNERS

International

Time
Sarah Riggs, translated from the French written by Etel Adnan

and

Canadian

Magnetic Equator
by Kaie Kellough

The Griffin Poetry Prize was founded in 2000 to encourage and celebrate excellence in poetry. The prize is for first edition books of poetry written in, or translated into, English and submitted from anywhere in the world.

The judges for the 2020 Griffin Poetry Prize are Paula Meehan (Ireland), Kei Miller (Jamaica/UK) and Hoa Nguyen (Canada). These distinguished writers and poets each read 572 books of poetry, received from fourteen countries around the globe, including translations from eighteen different languages. The trustees of The Griffin Trust For Excellence In Poetry select the judges annually.

Sarah Riggs, USA

Time International Winner

translated from the French written by

Etel Adnan, USA/Lebanon

Nightboat Books, USA

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Kaie Kellough, Canada

Magnetic Equator Canadian Winner

McClelland & Stewart, Canada

The 2020 Griffin Poetry Prize Shortlist:

International

• Abigail Chabitnoy’s How to Dress a Fish, published by Wesleyan University Press
• Sharon Olds’ Arias, published by Jonathan Cape and Alfred A. Knopf
• Sarah Riggs’ translation, from the French, of Time written by Etel Adnan, published by Nightboat Books
• Natalie Scenters-Zapico’s Lima :: Limón, published by Copper Canyon Press

Canadian

• Chantal Gibson’s How She Read, published by Caitlin Press
• Doyali Islam’s heft, published by McClelland & Stewart
• Kaie Kellough’s Magnetic Equator, published by McLelland & Stewart

Note to Booksellers: Griffin Poetry Prize book stickers are supplied free of charge. Please contact Ruth Smith to place an order.

For further information, contact: