2020 Book Awards: Longlists

The League of Canadian Poets is thrilled to announce the 2021 Book Awards longlists for the Gerald Lampert Memorial Award,  Pat Lowther Memorial Award, and the Raymond Souster Award.

Please join us in celebrating the incredible poetry of 2020!

Learn more about the 2020 awards and celebrate the poetry of 2019:

2020 GERALD LAMPERT MEMORIAL AWARD LONGLIST

Awarded annually since 1981, the Gerald Lampert Memorial Award is given in the memory of Gerald Lampert, an arts administrator who organized author tours and took a particular interest in the work of new writers. The award recognizes a first book of poetry published by a Canadian writer in the preceding year. The award carries a $2000 prize and is sponsored by the LCP.

Thank you to the 2019-2020 jurors of the Gerald Lampert Memorial Award: Ben Ladouceur, Robin Richardson Anna Yin!

What Fox Knew by Mary Barnes (At Bay Press)

Boom Time by Lindsay Bird (Gaspereau Press)

Float & Scurry by Heather Birrell (Anvil Press)

Doubter’s Hymnal by Laura Cok (Mansfield Press)

What to Wear when Surviving A Lion Attack by Paola Ferrante (Mansfield Press)

How She Read by Chantal Gibson (Caitlin Press)

77 Fragments of a Familiar Ruin by Thomas King (HarperCollins Publishers)

Live Ones by Sadie McCarney (University of Regina Press)

Re-Origin of Species by Alessandra Naccarato (Book*hug Press)

The Truth About Facts by Bart Vautour (Invisible Publishing)

These are not the potatoes of my youth by Matthew Walsh (Goose Lane Editions)

Common Brown House Moths by Laura Zacharin (Frontenac House)


2020 PAT LOWTHER MEMORIAL AWARD LONGLIST

The Pat Lowther Memorial Award is given for a book of poetry by a woman in Canada, and is in memory of the late Pat Lowther, whose career was cut short by her untimely death in 1975.  The award carries a $2,000 prize.

This award is inclusive of trans women and non-binary individuals who feel comfortable being recognized by a women’s prize.

Thank you to the 2019-2020 jurors of the Pat Lowther Memorial Award: Annick MacAskill, Billeh Nickerson and Soraya Peerbaye!

Renaissance Normcore by Adèle Barclay (Harbour Publishing)

Unmeaningable by Roxanna Bennett (Gordon Hill Press)

Bewilderness by Catherine Black (Guernica Editions)

How She Read by Chantal Gibson (Caitlin Press)

Sotto Voce by Maureen Hynes (Brick Books)

heft by Doyali Islam (McClelland & Stewart)

Sonnet’s Shakespeare by Sonnet L’Abbé (McClelland & Stewart)

Re-Origin of Species by Alessandra Naccarato (Book*hug Press)

Inquiries by Michelle Porter (Breakwater Books)

Strange Attractor by Anne Simpson (McClelland & Stewart)

The Caiplie Caves by Karen Solie (House of Anansi Press)

This Is How We Disappear by Titilope Sonuga (Write Bloody North)

Cluster by Souvankham Thammavongsa (McClelland & Stewart)


2020 RAYMOND SOUSTER LONGLIST

The Raymond Souster Award is given for a book of poetry by a League of Canadian Poets member. The award honours Raymond Souster, an early founder of the League of Canadian Poets. The award carries a $2,000 prize.

Thank you to the 2019-2020 jurors of the Raymond Souster Award: Jim Johnstone, Randy Lundy and Suzanne Zelazo!

NDN Coping Mechanisms by Billy-Ray Belcourt (House of Anansi Press)

Unmeaningable by Roxanna Bennett (Gordon Hill Press)

Boom Time by Lindsay Bird (Gaspereau Press)

How She Read by Chantal Gibson (Caitlin Press)

Unidentified Poetic Object by Brian Henderson (Brick Books)

Sonnet’s Shakespeare by Sonnet L’Abbe (McClelland & Stewart)

Drolleries by Cassidy McFadzean (McClelland & Stewart)

New Brunswick by Shane Neilson (Biblioasis)

Treaty # by Armand Garnet Ruffo (Wolsak & Wynn)

Strange Attractor by Anne Simpson (McClelland & Stewart)

Cluster by Souvankham Thammavongsa (McClelland & Stewart)

Crow Gulch by Douglas Walbourne-Gough (Goose Lane Editions)



2020 Jurors 

Thank you to our jurors, for all your hard work and careful reading of the incredible poetry released last year!