The League administers a variety of funding streams to support as many poets as possible, all across Canada.
If you are unsure of which funding stream to select on your application form, your best guess will do: applications are processed manually by a staff member who will contact you if clarification is needed.
- Full members of the League are eligible for all general event funding streams
- Please continue reading this page to find out more about application windows and timelines
- Ontario members of the League are eligible for our Poets in the Schools program, for visits (virtual or in-class) to Ontario schools
- Find out more about Poets in the Schools, including links to programs outside of Ontario, here
- Associate members and non-members of the League are eligible to receive $125 through our National Poetry Month event funding stream
Honoraria and travel reimbursement for poets, paid directly to the poet following the event.
With the support of the Canada Council for the Arts and the Toronto Arts Council, the League provides hundreds of poets each year with honorarium payments and travel reimbursement for poetry readings.
CLOSED | In-person and digital events anywhere in Canada, taking place before April 1, 2024. Waitlist applications will be processed in December 2023.
Applications for events in April 2024 and beyond will open in January 2024.
Full members of the League with a new book forthcoming may reserve up to $750 in honoraria, payable in $125 increments starting April the year of the book’s release, ending in March the year following the book’s release. Applications open annually in November, for books being released the following calendar year.
CLOSED | Book Tour Reservation requests, opening November 1, 2023. Members with new books to be released in 2024 will have the opportunity to request reserved readings for events in April 2024 and beyond.
Reading Series and literary festivals may be eligible to reserve up to $2,000 in honoraria for 8-16 unconfirmed readers. Readers must be Full members of the League to receive the funding, but do not have to be confirmed at the time of reservation. Honoraria are paid directly to the poets following their events.
CLOSED | Reading Series and Festivals Reservation requests, opening November 1, 2023. Established readings series and festivals will have the opportunity to request a reserved block of funding for events featuring League members in April 2024 and beyond.
Honoraria for poets, paid directly to the poet following the event. The League does not assist in setting up school visits; poets must arrange the visits themselves, and then apply for funding. The League of Canadian Poets program supports visits to Ontario schools only.
CLOSED | Poets in the Schools funding for school visits to Ontario classrooms; will reopen for fall-winter 2023-2024 visits (through to March 31, 2024) in August 2023; applications for April 2024 and beyond will open in February 2024
CLOSED | National Poetry Month event funding, for Associate Members and non-members anywhere in Canada; applications for NPM 2024 will open in January 2024
Looking for more poetry opportunities? Learn more about Microgrants & Bursaries
In the spirit of the Joseph Sherman New Member Reading, LCP is proud to offer regular virtual events where members can read poetry and connect as a community!
- New member reading (fall) – October 12, 2023
- Quebec and French-language open mic – November 9, 2023
- GTA open mic – January 18, 2024
2022-2023
- Pride Month Open Mic, June 2022
- Atlantic Member Open Mic, July 2022
- Prairie Poets Open Mic, September 2022
- Pride Month Open Mic, June 2022
- New Member Open Mic (2 nights), October 2022
- GTA Poets Open Mic, November 2022
- Black History Month Member Open Mic, February 2023
- New Member Reading, April 2023
- Quebec and French-language poets, May 2023
- Pride Month Open Mic: June 8, 2023
- Indigenous poets open mic – June 21, 2023
- BC & Territories Open Mic – July 2023
- Ontario open mic – August 10, 2023
What are you up to in Canada's vibrant poetry community?
Share your poetry news with LCP members! Whether you have recent publications, past poetry events, performances, new projects, career moves, the LCP community wants to celebrate you!
Member News is shared in our members-only newsletter, St@nza.
St@nza is released quarterly in March, June, September & December.
Fresh Voices
a publication project from and for the League’s associate members
Fresh Voices was created by Lesley Strutt to showcase the great work being produced by the League’s associate members! We are excited to continue this opportunity with curators Joan Conway (Associate Member Rep) and Blaine Marchand (poet and past president of the League). Fresh Voices is not only a publication opportunity but has also grown into a mini-workshop! Of the poems you submit, one poem will be shortlisted by the curators for which they will provide editorial insight and feedback.