2021 Book Awards: Longlists – League of Canadian Poets

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

2021 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.

Bertrand Bickersteth – The Response of Weeds (NeWest Press, 2020)

Cicely Belle Blain – Burning Sugar (Arsenal Pulp Press, 2020)

Jillian Christmas – the gospel of breaking (Arsenal Pulp Press, 2020)

Joel Robert Ferguson – The Lost Cafeteria (Signature Editions, 2020)

Kama La Mackerel – ZOM-FAM (Metonymy Press, 2020)

Valerie Mason-John – I Am Still Your Negro (University of Alberta Press, 2020)

Noor Naga – Washes, Prays (McClelland & Stewart, 2020)

Bahar Orang – Where Things Touch (Book*hug Press, 2020)

Tyler Pennock – Bones (Brick Books, 2020)

Natasha Ramoutar – Bittersweet (Mawenzi House, 2020)

Tamar Rubin – Tablet Fragments (Signature Editions, 2020)

Yusuf Saadi – Pluviophile (Nightwood Editions, 2020)

Thanks to the jurors for the 2021 Gerald Lampert Memorial Award: DA Lockhart, Nisha Patel and Phoebe Wang

2021 PAT LOWTHER MEMORIAL AWARD LONGLIST

Open to Canadian women, the Pat Lowther Memorial Award has been awarded annually since 1981 for a book of poetry published in the preceding year. This prize is in memory of the late Pat Lowther, whose career was cut short by her untimely death in 1975. The award carries a $2000 prize, and is sponsored by the LCP.

Cicely Belle Blain – Burning Sugar (Arsenal Pulp Press, 2020)

Jody Chan – Sick (Black Lawrence Press, 2020)

Jillian Christmas – the gospel of breaking (Arsenal Pulp Press, 2020)

Afua Cooper – Black Matters (Roseway Publishing, 2020)

Sadiqa de Meijer – The Outer Wards (Véhicule Press/Signal Poetry, 2020)

Jennifer Hosein – A Map of Rain Days (Guernica Editions, 2020)

Kyla Jamieson – Body Count (Nightwood Editions, 2020)

shalan joudry – Waking Ground (Gaspereau Press, 2020)

Evelyn Lau – Pineapple Express (Anvil Press, 2020)

Canisia Lubrin – The Dyzgraphxst (McClelland & Stewart, 2020)

Noor Naga – Washes, Prays (McClelland & Stewart, 2020)

Pearl Pirie – footlights (Radiant Press, 2020)

Thanks to the jurors for the 2021 Pat Lowther Memorial Award: Puneet Dutt, Doyali Islam and Cassidy McFadzean

2021 RAYMOND SOUSTER AWARD LONGLIST

The Raymond Souster Award was started in 2013 to honour Raymond Souster, an early founder of the League of Canadian Poets. The award is presented annually for a book of poetry by a League member published in the preceding year. The award carries a $2000 prize, and is sponsored by the LCP.

Sadiqa de Meijer – The Outer Wards (Véhicule Press/Signal Poetry, 2020)

Klara du Plessis – Hell Light Flesh (Palimpsest Press, 2020)

Phil Hall – Niagara & Government (Pedlar Press, 2020)

Jessie Jones – The Fool (Goose Lane Editions, 2020)

Canisia Lubrin – The Dyzgraphxst (McClelland & Stewart, 2020)

Jessica Moore – The Whole Singing Ocean (Nightwood Editions, 2020)

Tyler Pennock – Bones (Brick Books, 2020)

Michael Prior – Burning Province (McClelland & Stewart, 2020)

Meredith Quartermain – Lullabies in the Real World (NeWest Press, 2020)

Lisa Richter – Nautilus and Bone (Frontenac House, 2020)

John Elizabeth Stintzi – Junebat (House of Anansi Press, 2020)

Ian Williams – Word Problems (Coach House Books, 2020)