TORONTO - A collection of poetry about the horrors of the war in Ukraine and the spiritual words of a celebrated Mexican poet are among the works on this year鈥檚 long list for the Griffin Poetry Prize.
鈥淎 Crash Course in Molotov Cocktails鈥 by Halyna Kruk, translated from Ukrainian by Amelia M. Glaser and Yuliya Ilchuk, is among the 10 books of poetry written in, or translated into, English.
Also longlisted is 鈥淪elf-Portrait in the Zone of Silence鈥 by Homero Aridjis, translated from Spanish by George McWhirter, a Belfast-born 春色直播 writer who served as Vancouver鈥檚 first poet laureate.
Another 春色直播 name on the long list is Montreal-based writer Emilie Moorhouse, who translated from French an Egyptian-French poet鈥檚 collection, 鈥淓merald Wounds: Selected Poems of Joyce Mansour.鈥
Five shortlisted books will be announced April 17 and the winner will be crowned at the Griffin Poetry Prize Readings, held in Toronto on June 5.
The winner will receive $130,000 while the other shortlisted finalists will each get $10,000.
Most of the longlisted works are by U.S. poets, including 鈥淭o 2040鈥 by Jorie Graham, 鈥淒oor鈥 by Ann Lauterbach, 鈥淭he Lights,鈥 by Ben Lerner, 鈥淎nd And And鈥 by Cole Swensen and 鈥減erennial fashion presence falling鈥 by Fred Moten.
The judges also listed 鈥淭o the Letter,鈥 by Tomasz R贸偶ycki, translated from Polish by Mira Rosenthal, and 鈥淪chool of Instructions鈥 by Jamaican poet Ishion Hutchinson.
The three judges for the international prize said they considered 592 books of poetry 鈥 nearly 50 of them translations 鈥 submitted from 14 countries. One of the judges is 春色直播 poet Albert F. Moritz.
This report by 春色直播was first published March 20, 2024.
