Announcing the League of Canadian Poets Lifetime Achievement Award

League of Canadian Poets inaugural Lifetime Achievement Award ✺ Call for nominations and submissions Nomination deadline: February 4, 2025 Submission deadline: February 18, 2025
Headshot of Gregory Sass. The new League of Canadian Poets Lifetime Achievement Award has been made possible through a generous donation by Gregory Sass. Gregory Sass has been a teacher, senior editor, television executive, and social worker. He is the author and co-writer of nine books.

December 11, 2024 – The League is thrilled to announce a new Lifetime Achievement Award, to be awarded annually starting in 2025 thanks to the generous support of poet Gregory Sass.

The League of Canadian Poets Lifetime Achievement Award is a $2,500 annual award presented to a poet to honour an outstanding body of work in Canadian poetry. The winner of this award is selected annually by a committee of three members of the League’s Board of Directors. The prize also includes recognition as a Life Member in the League of Canadian Poets, making them a permanent organization member.

Nominations and submissions

This prize is open to spoken word poets as well as print poets.

Anyone can nominate an eligible poet for this annual award. Nominees will be contacted by the League and asked to provide additional materials (a CV and poetry sample) for review.

Poets may also submit to this award without a third-party nomination.

To nominate a poet:

Nomination letters should demonstrate the nominee’s ongoing commitment to poetry in Canada through publication, performance, cultural engagement, and community engagement such as mentoring, education, events, and community organizing.

Please obtain permission from the person you’re nominating prior to sending your nomination.

Please also include an email by which we can contact your nominee, so that we may follow up to request additional materials for consideration.

To nominate a poet, email your nomination letter (max. 2 pages) to [email protected] by midday on February 4, 2025.

Not sure how to start? Find a nomination letter template here.

To submit without a nomination:

With your submission, please include:

  • A CV (max. 5 pages) outlining notable publications, awards, events, performances, grants, and education (sample print CV, sample spoken word CV)
  • A sample (max. 10 pages) of poetry
    Up to one (1) reference letter (max. 2 pages) from a colleague or peer in the poetry community

Poets who feel they would make a good candidate for this award may wish to approach a colleague or peer to request they submit a nomination. To make the process more straightforward, poets may supply this document as a starting point for a nomination letter. Such an email may look something like this:

Dear colleague. I'm writing you today to ask if you might submit a nomination letter on my behalf to the League of Canadian Poets' Lifetime Achievement Award. I've been grateful to [work with, collaborate with, learn with, exist with] you over the past several years, and your nomination would mean a great deal to me. I know you're terribly busy, so I'm attaching a nomination letter template here that you're welcome to use -- although of course you can write from scratch if you'd prefer! I have filled in some of the more general details you may wish to use in the letter. Thank you for your time and your continued professional and poetic support.

Submission materials may be emailed as PDF attachments (maximum 3 attachments) to [email protected]. Materials are due by midday on Tuesday, February 18, 2025.

Evaluation rubric

Candidates will be evaluated using the following rubric:

  • Body of work /20
    • Craft
    • Scope of work (e.g. development of craft over time, diversity of publishers/events)
    • Quantity of work (e.g. number of books/feature performances)
    • Cultural engagement (e.g. work's place in society and art)
    • Consistency of work (e.g. clear dedication to craft, either as bursts of contribution or steady over time)
  • Community engagement /20
    • Mentorships
    • Education and workshops delivered
    • Community organizing work
    • Event hosting and development

About Gregory Sass

The new League of Canadian Poets Lifetime Achievement Award has been made possible through a generous donation by Gregory Sass. Gregory Sass has been a teacher, senior editor, television executive, and social worker. He is the author and co-writer of nine books. The leisure of retirement has given him the luxury to enjoy what he values: the silence within, sunrise and sunset, birdsong, reading, writing, quality conversation, being kind to whoever needs it, and supporting causes he believes in. Gregory’s newest book, Soul's Journey, is the poetic story of his own inner life lived during significant turning points in our time. It is an authentic, compelling tale of resilience, survival, and overcoming that leads to discovery of a life rich in meaning and loving relationships.