The League of Canadian Poets is proud to present the 2019 Book Awards Winners, including the Gerald Lampert Memorial Award, the Pat Lowther Memorial Award, and the Raymond Souster Award.

The winners – who will each receive $2000 thanks to funding from Canada Council for the Arts , Ontario Arts Council, Toronto Arts Council, and Canada Book Fund – will be announced on Saturday, June 8, 2019, in St. John’s, Newfoundland, at a special awards ceremony to be held during the League of Canadian Poets’ Annual Conference and Annual General Meeting. At this time, the winner of the 2019 Sheri-D Wilson Golden Beret Award for Spoken Word will also be announced.

WINNERS

Gerald Lampert Memorial Award for a debut book of poetry

2019 Winner: Obits. by Tess Liem (Coach House Books)

Pat Lowther Memorial Award for a book of poetry by a woman

2019 Winner: Ekke by Klara du Plessis (Palimpsest Press)

Raymond Souster Award for a book of poetry by a League member

2019 Winner: I left nothing inside on purpose by Stevie Howell (McClelland & Stewart)

Sheri-D Wilson Golden Beret Award for excellence and innovation in spoken word poetry

2019 Winner: Andrea Thompson

ANNOUNCING THE SHORTLISTS

2019 GERALD LAMPERT MEMORIAL AWARD SHORTLIST

 Ekke by Klara du Plessis (Palimpsest Press) | Quarry by Tanis Franco (University of Calgary Press) | Unstable Neighbourhood Rabbit by Mikko Harvey (House of Anansi Press) | Dividing the Wayside by Jenny Haysom (Palimpsest Press) | Obits. by Tess Liem (Coach House Books) |Port of Being by Shazia Hafiz Ramji (Invisible Publishing)

2019 jury: Adebe DeRango-Adem, Amanda Earl, and Jacob McArthur Mooney.

Find author photos, bios, and comments from the jurors for the 2019 Gerald Lampert Memorial Award shortlisted poets and their works here.

2019 PAT LOWTHER MEMORIAL AWARD SHORTLIST

Listen Before Transmit by Dani Couture (Wolsak & Wynn) | Ekke by Klara du Plessis (Palimpsest Press) | Body Work by Emilia Nielsen (Signature Editions) | East and West by Laura Ritland (Véhicule Press) | Reunion by Deanna Young (Brick Books) | The Missing Field by Jennifer Zilm (Guernica Editions) 

2019 jury: Robert Colman, Brenda Leifso, and Shane Neilson.

Find author photos, bios, and comments from the jurors for the 2019 Pat Lowther Memorial Award shortlisted poets and their works here.

2019 RAYMOND SOUSTER AWARD SHORTLIST

Anatomic by Adam Dickinson (Coach House Books) | I left nothing inside on purpose by Stevie Howell (McClelland & Stewart) | Welcome to the Anthropocene by Alice Major (University of Alberta Press) | Tar Swan by David Martin (NeWest Press) | Rooster, Dog, Crow by Jim Nason (Frontenac House) |Ledi by Kim Trainor (Book*hug)

2019 jury: Kathy Mac, Maurice Mierau, and Concetta Principe.

Find author photos, bios, and comments from the jurors for the 2019 Raymond Souster Award shortlisted poets and their works here.

Congratulations to all of the shortlisted poets and their publishers for their fine work! Many thanks to the jurors for their dedication to this year’s awards!