THE GRIFFIN TRUST For Excellence In PoetryPress CoverageThe following are highlights of the latest media coverage of the Griffin Poetry Prize and its principals.Note: Some of the links included here require publication subscriptions or registrations. 
May 10, 2008 Griffin-nominated poet has Hamilton roots by Doug Foley You can take David McFadden out of Hamilton, but you cant take Hamilton out of him. The city-born poets most recent book, Why Are You So Sad? Selected Poems of David W. McFadden, is filled with references to his old hometown. And it has landed him on the Canadian shortlist for the Griffin Poetry Prize 2008.  April 26, 2008 Timely, or time-tested? When it comes to literary prizes, Fraser Sutherland says, jurors often maintain a high-wire balancing act between the familiar and the new by Fraser Sutherland To judge by their ages, most of the writers on the shortlists for this years Griffin Poetry Prize look a tad geriatric. One is even deceased. César Vallejo, whose Complete Poetry is translated by 73-year-old Clayton Eshleman, died in 1938. John Ashbery (Notes from the Air: Selected Later Poems) and Robin Blaser (The Holy Forest: Collected Poems of Robin Blaser) are in their 80s. The youngest, Erin Moure, co-translator of Nicole Brossards Notebook of Roses and Civilization, is, at 53, a mere juvenile. Of course, the age of poets shouldn't matter, since poetry is supposed to be timeless
 April 17, 2008 Three Canadian poets are in the running for the lucrative Griffin Poetry Prize This weeks podcast features the three home-grown poets nominated for one of the worlds most well-heeled literary awards. There are two categories in the Griffin Poetry Prize: one for a Canadian poet and the other for an international writer. Both winners will be announced on June 4 and will receive $50,000. The podcast has archival interviews with the three Canadian nominees: Robin Blaser, David McFadden and Nicole Brossard.  April 9, 2008 That's 500 pages of quatrains and couplets, stanzas and sonnets by Adam McDowell, There's nothing short about some of titles on the Griffin Poetry Prize short list, announced yesterday. Three Canadian books will vie for the $50,000 domestic purse: Robin Blaser's 500-page collection The Holy Forest, David McFadden's 328-page Why Are You So Sad? and Notebook of Roses and Civilization, a mere 76-pager by Nicole Brossard (with translators Robert Majzels and Erin Moure). 
April 9, 2008 Older poets' greatest hits make the cut by James Adams Jurors for the Griffin Poetry Prize for excellence in English-language verse leaned heavily on older poets and their greatest hits in their choices yesterday for the finalists for its eighth annual instalment.  April 9, 2008 Brossard, McFadden, Blaser vie for Griffin Poetry Prize Canwest News Service Montreal feminist postmodernist Nicole Brossard and Pulitzer Prize winner John Ashbery are among the writers shortlisted for the $100,000 Griffin Poetry Prize, one of the most lucrative poetry prizes in the world. The annual prize awards $50,000 to each of two winners, one Canadian and one international. 
April 8, 2008 Robin Blaser in the running for the lucrative Griffin Poetry Prize Canadian Press Simon Fraser University professor emeritus Robin Blaser, considered to be one of North America's most outstanding poets of the postwar period, is in the running for the lucrative Griffin Poetry Prize.  April 8, 2008 Vancouver, Toronto, Montreal poets vie for Griffin Prize Vancouver poet Robin Blaser, Toronto's David McFadden and Montreal's Nicole Brossard and her translators have been nominated for the Griffin Poetry Prize. The Griffin Prize, which awards $50,000 to each of two winners, is offered annually to a Canadian and an international poet writing in English. The international nominees are New York-based poets John Ashbery and Elaine Equi, Peruvian poet Cesar Vallejo and his translator and David Harsent of the U.K.
April 8, 2008 Griffin shortlists announced by Stuart Woods Two small-press titles and another from a U.S. academic press are vying for the $50,000 Griffin Poetry Prize in the Canadian category. Award founder and sponsor Scott Griffin, alongside trustee David Young, announced the Canadian and international shortlists at a press conference in Toronto on Tuesday morning. 
April 8, 2008 When Poetry Meets Politics What a new Pulitzer Prize winner tells us about age and public writing by Nathan Heller Time and Materials, Robert Hass' fifth collection of poems, is a book about hitting the cold water of late middle age, but the story it tells is not so much of decline as of reinvention. Hass is in the front lines of a baby-boom generation coming to terms with its past. He was born in San Francisco a few months before the Pearl Harbor bombing and came of age in a cultural landscape overshadowed by Beats, hippies, and the Vietnam War. He got interested in Eastern thought, got subpoenaed as an SDS adviser in Buffalo, returned to California in time for the first tech boom, and eventually taught at Berkeley. The zeitgeist stuck with him like an Al Capp rain cloud even through his 50s: In 1995, Hass whose poetry features proud regionalism and plainspoken eloquence, not to mention a strong tropism toward sex became poet laureate during the Clinton administration.
 February 16, 2008 Monumental journey Why it took Scott Griffin seven years to raise a statue of poet Al Purdy by Tenille Bonoguore Its not the kind of company Al Purdy would normally keep: a king, a queen, a dusting of premiers, resplendent in rigid formality. This man cut the toes off his too-small shoes and wore them to meet the Governor-General. He wrote poems about drinking and throwing up. His greatest works celebrated the base realities of life. So you have to wonder what Al Purdy would make of the fact that, on May 20, his larger-than-life bronze countenance will be installed at Queens Park to become the nations first full-sized statue of a Canadian poet.
 September 5, 2007 Former poet laureate George Bowering joins Griffin Prize jury George Bowering, Canada's first poet laureate, has been selected to judge one of the country's most distinguished poetry honours.
July 25, 2007 LIT T.O.—July 25–July 30 The 2007 Griffin Poetry Prize Anthology edited by Karen Solie, Anansi. Because we attended the sold-out reading prior to the Awards Gala, weve heard some of these poems before, and its interesting to see them on the page. Were mostly familiar with the poets featured on the Canadian shortlist, but are really enjoying getting to know Priscila Uppals work better. 
June 13, 2007 Charles Wright Interview Charles Wright, recently won the 2007 Griffin Poetry Prize for Scar Tissue. He is also the winner of the Pulitzer Prize, the National Book Critics Circle Award, and the National Book Award, and teaches at the University of Virginia in Charlottesville.  June 8, 2007 A winning poet Don McKay has been one of Victorias most celebrated poets for years. His extraordinary work draws heavily on nature for inspiration. Its at once quiet and profound and we mean this in the best possible way accessible, exploring our place in the world.
June 8, 2007 B.C. poet wins Canadian Griffin Poetry Prize Three-times-nominated Don McKay scoops the $50,000 award for his book Strike/Slip by Rebecca Wigod Twice a bridesmaid, and now the bride. After being nominated three times for the Canadian half of the Griffin Poetry Prize, Don McKay has won the attention-getting $50,000 purse. The B.C. poet, author of Strike/Slip, a book inspired by the landscape along a fault line on southern Vancouver Island, collected the award at a midweek ceremony in Toronto.
June 7, 2007 Books: Griffin Poetry Prize report by Damian Rogers On June 4, at the seventh annual Griffin Poetry Prize Gala, poets Don McKay and Charles Wright each won the coveted $50,000 purse award for the Canadian and International categories, respectively. And while this brought an end to the sporting competition that is the awkward but necessary framework for shining such a bright light on the often neglected po-biz circus, the lingering effects of so much pixie dust will be felt for some time. The Griffin Prize has in its short lifespan already become an institution, and a remarkably vital one at that, working to etch Torontos name that much more deeply into the global literary map.
June 7, 2007 McKay wins $50,000 poetry prize Ontario-raised poet wins largest Canadian poetry award for his 11th collection, Strike/Slip by Vit Wagner If there was a sentimental favourite to win the Canadian award at the 2007 Griffin Poetry Prize and the $50,000 cheque that went with it it was Don McKay.
June 7, 2007 The Griffin Groove by Brian D. Johnson Hats off to Scott Griffin for hosting what has routinely become the best awards night of the year—the Griffin Poetry Prize gala. Last nights 7th annual edition of awards was not the only game in town. There were so many cultural goings-on in Toronto last night that the literati didnt know which way to turn
But the best party was at the Stone Distillery, where Scott and Krystyne Griffin were honouring the art of poetry with their impeccable hospitality.
June 7, 2007 Celebrated Canadian poet Don McKay wins $50,000 Griffin Prize A veteran Canadian author who has twice won the Governor Generals award for poetry was one of two recipients of the prestigious Griffin Poetry Prize, awarded Wednesday at a lavish ceremony in Toronto. Canadian Don McKay won for Strike/Slip, his 11th book of poetry, which was lauded by judges as a book of patience, courage, and quiet eloquence.
June 7, 2007 McKay, Wright share top poetry award and $100,000 Canadian and American to split $100,000 by James Adams Veteran poets triumphed last night at the 7th annual Griffin Poetry Prize ceremony in Toronto's Distillery District.  June 7, 2007 Griffin Poetry Prize Winners Don McKays Strike/Slip and Charles Wrights Scar Tissue are the Canadian and international winners, respectively, of the seventh annual Griffin Poetry Prize.  June 6, 2007 Don McKay and Charles Wright win prestigious poetry prizes at star-studded gala Canadian Press Don McKay and Charles Wright were awarded the prestigious Griffin Poetry Prizes Wednesday at a splashy Toronto ceremony that attracted a who's who of Canadian literary icons.  June 6, 2007 LIT T.O.—June 6 to June 11 Last night, six of seven poets nominated for The 2007 Griffins and one actor read to a sold-out house at the Macmillan Theatre. Imagine: 800+ people clapping ecstatically for poetry, and a standing ovation for lifetime achievement winner Tomas Tranströmer (people wept). Nominee Ken Babstock, who has been the subject of a few interviews this week, told the audience, If Im going to be asked one more time by the media if poetry is dead, Im gonna go postal. 
June 6, 2007 Like music to our ears by Vit Wagner Whatever pleasure comes from hearing writers read their own work increases exponentially when the writers in question are poets, the best of whose recitations can sound like songs with secret, hidden notes. The musical accompaniment might be missing, but tempo, rhythm and sometimes even melody can be detected when the authors, who are in a privileged position to know how the line is meant to scan, are also the performers.
June 6, 2007 No more rock, this poets on a roll Former guitarist Ken Babstock published his first book of poetry in 1999. Now, his third is up for the richest poetry prize in Canada by James Adams Whats popularity any way?
A newspaper can feature an article about a handbag every single Saturday. But does poetry want that?
People in the culture are reading poetry, always have and always will. I just dont know if it has to have the same face as Paris Hilton. Ken Babstock Ken Babstock admits he has done his fair share of griping about awards short lists, especially when his name hasnt appeared on one honour roll or another
In the past few months, however, Babstock has had little cause for caterwauling
 June 4, 2007 McKay hopes award boosts poetrys rep Poet, nominated for $50,000 Griffin Prize, says it isnt the money that matters to him by Vit Wagner If poet Don McKay is thinking about what it would be like to cash the $50,000 cheque that comes with winning the Griffin Poetry Prize, the two-time runner-up isn't letting on. I try not to focus on that aspect of it too much because the money is not the heart of it, he says on the line from Banff Centre, where he has spent the spring coaching young writers.
May 31, 2007 Why Poetry? by Scott Griffin The other day I was asked why I like poetry, as if liking poetry was some strange aberration that required explanation. Probably for the same reason that some people like music, I replied. The question though, spoke volumes about how far poetry had slipped from the mainstream of our cultural lives, which is somewhat bewildering to me.  May 19, 2007 The quick and the read by George Fetherling Theres always much criticism of book prizes because they can sometimes corrupt (or even silence) the winners while scorching the losers, and turning the act of writing into a gladiatorial combat. Because of the genre it represents, the Griffin Poetry Prize is probably an exception. For the most part, even highly sophisticated novel readers feel squeamishly uninformed about contemporary poetry. The Griffin has helped a great deal by becoming a bridge between poets and the all-too-often poem-shy audience. Anne Simpson is the perfect illustration of how this works. She is a Nova Scotian whose first book, Light Falls Through You, took one national and one regional prize. But, to say the least, her reputation and her readership increased dramatically when Loop, her second collection, received the Griffin
 May 3, 2007 Poetry profits Free-market poets' economy of words by Robert Priest When poets talk about economy theyre usually referring to the economy of language. But this year, as another Poetry Month passes, there is growing concern about Canadian poetrys financial future. A quick glace at the headlines might at first be reassuring: the Governor Generals Award has gone up to $25,000 from $15,000, the Griffin Prize has risen from $40,000 to $50,000, and poet laureate positions keep popping up like mushrooms in small towns and cities across the land. Behind the scenes, though, the Harper government has left the mass of Canadian poets a net pay decrease. 
April 28, 2007 'The hair on the back of your neck stands up' With poetry in the spotlight this month, local writers reflect on the genre's rewards by Lisan Jutras Will it be third time lucky for Don McKay? When we celebrate National Poetry Month each April, were tipping our hats not only to the art form, but to the poets themselves, who perform the thankless task of writing what few read and fewer still understand. It takes a very particular kind of masochism to engage in this pursuit, which brings the practitioner neither glory nor income and is derided even, occasionally, by poets themselves. 
April 7, 2007 Third time lucky for B.C. poet at the Griffin Awards? by Chantal Eustace If Victoria poet Don McKay were, say, to win a certain award that hes nominated for hypothetically speaking, of course hed buy himself the most precious thing a poet could ask for: time.
April 5, 2007 Lines of beauty The lowdown on this year’s Griffin Poetry Prize nominees by Barbara Carey Poetry and big bucks dont commonly go together like a fizzy cocktail and a swizzle stick which is why the announcement of finalists for the Griffin Poetry Prize creates an annual stir.
April 4, 2007 Griffins Take Flight Past Griffin Award recipient Christian Bök once stated, The Griffin is the poetry award that can drastically change a poets life. Christian isnt exaggerating: the $100,000 prize, shared by two winners, is one of the largest poetry awards in the world. In a 2000 speech, Scott Griffin, founder of The Griffin Trust for Excellence in Poetry, explained, the poetry prize had to be of sufficient size to make a statement that declared that poets and poetry are just as important as novelists and their works. 
April 4, 2007 Griffin Prize: Lyricists duke it out over two $50,000 prizes Thanks to benefactor's thrift, poetry won't get short shrift by Vanessa Farquharson From an unprecedented 483 submissions, the shortlist for this years Griffin Poetry Prize was finally narrowed down to seven writers, six of whom happen to be men. In previous years weve had more women, so I think its just the way the dice roll, said Scott Griffin, founder of the prize, which is now in its seventh year and one of the worlds most lucrative. A total of $100,000 is awarded to two winners, one Canadian and one international, who split the money evenly. 
April 4, 2007 McKay gets third nod by James Adams Will it be third time lucky for Don McKay? The veteran Canadian poet was shortlisted for the third time yesterday in the Canadian division of the annual Griffin Poetry Prize, worth $50,000. McKay, 65, has won two Governor-General's Awards for English-language poetry, in 1991 and 2000 but he has come up short-handed on the previous occasions that he has vied for Griffin honours, in 2001 and 2005. He will know if he's victorious when the winner is announced on June 6 at a gala dinner in Toronto. 
April 3, 2007 Canadian Don McKay shortlisted for Griffin Poetry Prize Canadian poetry veteran Don McKay and Frederick Seidel, one of the founding editors of iconic literary magazine The Paris Review, are among the seven shortlisted poets vying for the 2007 Griffin Poetry Prize.
April 3, 2007 Griffin shortlist unveiled by Vit Wagner Don McKay, a two-time nominee for the Griffin Poetry Prize, was again named today to the Canadian shortlist for the lucrative literary award.
April 3, 2007 Babstock, Uppal, McKay vie for Griffin by Leigh Anne Williams Ken Babstocks Airstream Land Yacht, Priscila Uppals Ontological Necessities, and Don McKays Strike/Slip are the nominees for this year's Griffin Poetry Prize in the $50,000 Canadian category. The Griffin unveiled its Canadian and international shortlists in Toronto today. None of the nominated poets were in attendance, but a celebratory hoot came from the House of Anansi Press contingent when Babstocks name was announced.  April 3, 2007 Frederick Seidel, Don McKay among those on Griffin Poetry Prize short lists Frederick Seidel a protege of Ezra Pound and a founding editor of The Paris Review is in the running for the lucrative Griffin Poetry Prize. The Canadian short list, meanwhile, includes two poets from Toronto as well as veteran wordsmith Don McKay from Victoria.  April 3, 2007 Seven vie for poetry's big prize by Tenille Bonoguore What do you get when three Canadians, three Americans and a Brit walk into a bar?
The shortlist for the $100,000 Griffin Poetry Prize, Canada's highest-paying literary prize for arguably the least popular of the literary arts.
And it could be third time lucky for B.C. poet Don McKay, who joins Toronto-based poets, Ken Babstock and Priscila Uppal, on the shortlist for the $50,000 national prize.
 November 20, 2006 Poets aplenty, but who's reading the verse? In a market where 'skyrocketing' sales mean five books sold a week, do poetry prizes make any difference at all? Apparently, they do by James Adams Proclamations of the death of poetry have grown more insistent and numerous over the last 25 years, but this hasnt stopped a lot of people too many, some would argue from continuing to write it and, occasionally, see it published. 
July 25, 2006 CBC Radios And Sometimes Y The Edge of Language Christian Bök, author of Eunoia, the experimental poetry book that won the Griffin Poetry Prize, joins host Russell Smith to explore the topic What is language for, and how does it work? 
July 15, 2006 Experiments in language Work by Griffin Prize winners Sylvia Legris and Kamau Brathwaite yield stellar results by Harold Heft Literary awards can be a mixed blessing: Designed to reward excellence, they also create inflated expectations. We often hear readers say that they are pleasantly surprised by an obscure book and generally disappointed by major award winners. In Canada, no literary award is more generous or, arguably, more prestigious than the Griffin Poetry Prize. Created in 2000 by Scott Griffin, an auto parts manufacturer, the award has the admirable ambition to raise public awareness of the crucial role poetry must play in societys cultural life. Each year, the Griffin Prize provides $50,000 (a fortune in the poetry milieu) to one Canadian winner and one international winner, and this international focus has succeeded in putting Canada on the worlds literary map. 
June 27, 2006 A Poet’s Winning Season Sylvia Legris's break-out book won the Griffin, and her life may never be the same by Patricia Robertson At the beginning of this month, Sylvia Legriss quiet poets life was dramatically altered when she won the coveted 2006 Griffin Poetry Prize. Three times is apparently a charm, since it was her third book of poetry, Nerve Squall (Coach House Books, 2005), that garnered top honours. Recently Legris and I shared a discreet upstairs booth at Grandma Lees Bakery in downtown Saskatoon. Its her favourite haunt, she says, because its low-key and serves great Rice Krispy squares, but shes a bit on edge. Since the Griffin gala on June 1, Legris has hit the poetry jackpot, been inundated with attention and been run over by a scathing critic. 
June 22, 2006 Looking outside of Canadian poetry Phil Hall on inspiration, language and the restraints of nationalism by Derek Beaulieu In Dawson City, Griffin-Prize nominee Phil Hall has found a community willing to challenge itself culturally, and like that small, northern city, Hall has continuously looked outside his own community for inspiration, seeking to combine the traditionally poetic with non-poetic subject matter. 
June 19, 2006 They Are Poets, Hear Them Roar A ritzy prize and initiatives like ‘Poetry Out Loud’ are turning poets into rock stars by Anne Kingston At the end of the long red carpet strewn with rose petals, Scott and Krystyne Griffin greet their guests. Four hundred people are gathering in Toronto this evening in early June for the naming of the 2006 Griffin Prize winners. This is Canada’s richest literary award - $50,000 to a Canadian poet, $50,000 to an international poet. The short list of three Canadian and four international poets has been winnowed from 444 books submitted from 20 countries.  June 7, 2006 Kamau Brathwaite Wins Griffin Prize by Colin Rickards Pride Contributing Writer Barbados-born poet Kamau Brathwaite won the International section of the prestigious Griffin Poetry Prize for his volume Born to Slow Horses at a gala event in the Distillery District last Thursday. He beat three other International poets from Germany, the U.S. and Iraq to win the worlds most valuable poetry prize. Saskatoon poet Sylvia Legris emerged victorious in a field of three to win the Canadian section.  June 5, 2006 Verse attracts a full house by Joe Fiorito We have an abiding affection for dactyls, strophes and dithyrambs and so we went to the MacMillan Theatre one night last week, to listen to the Griffin Prize poets read their work. We arrived early and it was a good thing we did, because the house was full. We found seats near the front."Where else but in Canada could you get 1,000 people out to a poetry reading," said a fellow in the row behind us to his friend. Where else, indeed? 
June 3, 2006 Prestigious Canadian poetry prizes awarded Canadian Sylvia Legris and Barbadian Kamau Brathwaite were awarded the prestigious Griffin Poetry Prize at a ceremony attended by writers and publishers from around the world. The awards, worth $45,332 (US) each to a Canadian and an international winner, are among the richest poetry prizes in the world. They were presented during an Asian-themed gala dinner Thursday night. 
June 2, 2006 Saskatoon poet wins Griffin Prize by James Adams A three-member international jury awarded Sylvia Legris the $50,000 Canadian part of the Griffin Poetry Prize at a ceremony last night in Toronto's Distillery Historic District. The Saskatoon poet took the cash for a collection titled Nerve Squall, her third book of poetry and one of three books short-listed for the prize. Winning the $50,000 international prize was Barbadian poet Kamau Brathwaite for his book, Born to Slow Horses. 
June 2, 2006 CBC.ca Words at Large 2006 Griffin Poetry Prize Sylvia Legris and Kamau Brathwaite are the Canadian and international winners of the 6th annual Griffin Poetry Prize. Eleanor Wachtel speaks to the winners of the 2006 Griffin Poetry Prize immediately following the awards ceremony. Canadian winner Sylvia Legris of Saskatchewan and international winner Kamau Brathwaite from Barbados talk about what winning this prestigious prize means to them. 
June 2, 2006 Prize earns a poem as two Griffins given by Judy Stoffman Wearing an African tunic and a knitted cap, Kamau Brathwaite recited one of his hypnotic poems as he accepted the $50,000 Griffin Prize last night at a sumptuous dinner at the Stone Distillery
Brathwaite was honoured for his book Born to Slow Horses, published by Wesleyan University Press. Canadian winner was Sylvia Legris of Saskatoon, who also took home $50,000.The double Griffin Prize, founded six years ago by the auto parts entrepreneur, is the world's most generous poetry award. 
June 2, 2006 Legris takes home Griffin Sylvia Legris' Nerve Squall (Coach House Books) took home the award for Canadian poetry at the Griffin Poetry Prize ceremony in Toronto last night. The collection, Legris' third, was as widely acclaimed upon its publication, and it is also up for the Pat Lowther Memorial Award, to be handed out in Ottawa on June 10. It was not only Legris' first Griffin win, but her first nomination as well.  June 1, 2006 Brathwaite, Legris win Griffin Poetry Prizes by Brett Popplewell Canadian Sylvia Legris and Barbadian Kamau Brathwaite were awarded the prestigious Griffin Poetry Prizes Thursday at a glitzy Toronto ceremony. The awards, worth $50,000 to a Canadian and an international recipient, are among the richest poetry prizes in the world. They were presented during a gala dinner in the city's historic distillery district. A nervous Legris, who said she took the train from Saskatchewan to attend the colourful awards ceremony, thanked the jury and other poets for the honour. “It's remarkable just being in your company and meeting all of you,” she said. “This is terrifying, but it's such an honour.” 
June 1, 2006 A Berkeley Renaissance man Who's Robin Blaser? If you are interested in poetry - not just in Canada but in North America - you should know this Griffin honoree, writes Canada's first poet laureate, George Bowering For four decades, Robin Blaser has been one of the most influential poets in the North American world, but he does not possess a household name. Most professors of Canadian literature do not teach his work and probably have not read it either. Yet he is a member of the Order of Canada. He collaborated with the eminent British composer Sir Harrison Birtwistle on the opera The Last Supper, which was commissioned by the Staatsoper of Berlin and Glyndebourne Opera in 2000. His book of collected poems, The Holy Forest, was edited by Stan Persky and Michael Ondaatje, introduced by Robert Creeley, and published by Coach House Press in 1993. It is 400 pages long, and it is not light reading. But last night at Toronto's MacMillan Theatre, Blaser was presented with a special Life Time Recognition Award given by the trustees of the Griffin Trust for Excellence in Poetry. 
May 30, 2006 CBC.ca Words at Large 2006 Griffin Poetry Prize On June 1, the Griffin Poetry Prize will be awarded to two poets whose works, including translations, were published in English last year. (Includes link to audio clip of Scott Griffin interview with Shelagh Rogers on This Morning, September 7, 2000.)  May 27, 2006 Catching a Rhyming Star by Kenneth Sherman Baudelaire said that he could imagine a person going without food for two days, but not without poetry. And yet, many go without. Poetry’s partisans contend that the public is simply unaware. Offer people poetry and they will take to it. There are encouraging signs. American poet Billy Collins, a writer of accessible and intelligently entertaining poetry, reportedly earns a living from royalties and readings. Camille Paglia’s Break, Blow, Burn, a lucid explication of 43 traditional and modern poems, has been a brisk seller since its publication last year. In Canada, the Griffin Poetry Prize has done much to advance the cause. Named for Scott Griffin, their generous patron, the annual awards go to the two best books of poetry, including translations, published in English in the previous year. One book is chosen from a Canadian, the other from an international shortlist. The inclusion of translations has enlivened the proceedings with such foreign-language heavyweights as Yehuda Amichai (Hebrew) and Paul Celan (German). Regrettably, since the Griffin’s inception in 2001, no translated Québécois poet has been nominated for the Canadian award. This is not the fault of the adjudicators. The volumes of French Canadian poetry translated into English in the past five years can be counted on one hand. (I hope someone from the Canada Council is reading this.) 
May 1, 2006 The Griffin Poetry Prize 2006 Shortlists by Nathaniel G. Moore The Danforth Review summarizes the Griffin Poetry Prize 2006 shortlists, along with reactions from the Canadian publishers whose volumes were nominated.  April 7, 2006 Prize Fighters Sizing up the Griffin Poetry Prize finalists by Barbara Carey Cash and cachet go together when it comes to literary awards, so its no surprise that the Griffin Poetry Prize, which announced the 2006 finalists April 5, is a big deal. The annual prize splits $100,000 between a Canadian winner and an international one, making it the richest haul for a single volume of poetry in the world. It’s also hotly contested: this year’s judges read 441 books, from 15 countries (including translations from 20 languages), in just three months. (On top of their honorarium, they deserve a medal for valour.)  April 6, 2006 Diverse poets vie for Griffin by Judy Stoffman A book of poems originally written in Arabic by a refugee from Saddam's Iraq is in the running for the world's richest poetry prize. Elizabeth Winslow's English translation of The War Works Hard, by Dunya Mikhail, is one of four books on the international short list of the Griffin poetry prize, announced yesterday  April 6, 2006 Lucrative awards put poetry in motion Griffin prize lists nominees for two $50,000 purses Although many writers and editors will argue that poetry doesn't sell, Michael Ondaatje, Margaret Atwood and the rest of the trustees behind Canada's Griffin Poetry Prize are out to challenge this belief. And there's no better time to get the ball rolling than in April, which is poetry month.  April 6, 2006 Awards: Peabody, IMPAC, Griffin and Trillium by Michael Posner Three Canadians and four international poets will vie for 2006 Griffin Poetry Prizes. The two short lists drawn from some 441 submissions from 15 countries were announced yesterday in Toronto by Scott Griffin, founder of the Griffin Trust for Excellence in Poetry, and David Young, trustee.  April 5, 2006 Moure, Hall, Legris up for 2006 Griffin From a record number of submissions, the jury for the Griffin Poetry Prize has narrowed this years competition for the Canadian prize to three books by mid-career poets. On the international side, the four-title shortlist spans the globe, including books by authors from the U.S., Germany, Barbados, and Iraq.  April 5, 2006 Poets from Saskatoon, Montreal make short list for $100,000 Griffin prize Poets from Saskatoon, Montreal and Toronto are in the running for this year's Griffin Poetry Prize. The prize, created six years ago by Toronto businessman Scott Griffin along with trustees who include Margaret Atwood and Michael Ondaatje, awards $50,000 to the best book of Canadian poetry and $50,000 to the best book of international poetry.  April 5, 2006 Griffin Poetry Prize nominates poets from Saskatoon to San Francisco Poets from Saskatoon, San Francisco and London are among those nominated for one of the world's most prestigious poetry awards, the Griffin Poetry Trust announced Wednesday.  April 5, 2006 Short list unveiled for Griffin Poetry Prize Seven poets are being considered for the 2006 Griffin Poetry Prize, selected from a record number of entries from around the world – proof the fledgling award is gaining an international reputation
Its like tasting food youve never had before, [trustee David Young] said. You realize that this is somebodys world. These are all really great poets. The fact that you havent even heard of some of them is pretty exciting. It tells you that the world of poetry is big and rich and broad.
 August 2, 2005 In Addition to His Pugnacity and Charm, He Can Write Poetry by Timothy Williams On a gray and rainy day recently, the poet August Kleinzahler was eating a hot dog and greasy fries at a hot dog shop in Fort Lee, N.J., called Hirams, a gruff, no-frills place that Mr. Kleinzahler says is about as close to the literary establishment across the river in Manhattan as he cares to be. But Mr. Kleinzahler, 55, noted both for poems that jarringly marry the high and the low and for keeping his distance from the New York illuminati, has found himself late in his career in a rather awkward spot: the cusp of respectability in the cliquish world of poetry.  June 19, 2005 Review of Short Journey Upriver Toward Oishida, by Roo Borson by J. Mark Smith One of the finer things in Roo Borsons Griffin Prize winning book is Persimmons, a prose narrative about the fruit of the trees she associates with her mothers garden, with a Japanese man who was her mothers gardener, with her own adolescence, and with her mothers death
I quote these sentences as an exhibit to begin with, because Short Journey Upriver stands or falls as a collection of poetry on the twenty pages of much more challenging free verse that make up its first section, Summer Grass.  June 6, 2005 Relishing poetry with lots of mustard by Joe Fiorito The Griffin Poetry Prizes have been awarded for another year. Scott Griffin earned his fortune making shock absorbers; $50,000 is a shocking amount for any writer, let alone a poet, to absorb.  June 3, 2005 Roo Borson wins Griffin Poetry Prize Veteran poets Roo Borson and Charles Simic are the newest winners of the $100,000 Griffin Poetry Prize, the worlds richest prize for a single volume of poetry.  June 3, 2005 Roo Borson wins Griffin Poetry Prize by Guy Dixon Roo Borson, the Toronto-based writer known for her contemplative works that search for identity along many splintered paths, was the winning Canadian poet in this year's Griffin Poetry Prize, receiving $50,000 for her book Short Journey Up River Towards Oishida. 
June 3, 2005 Toronto, U.S. poets win Griffin honours by Judy Stoffman Charles Simic from New Hampshire won the international award and Torontos Roo Borson was the Canadian winner when the Griffin Prize for poetry was given out for the fifth time last night at a candlelit banquet in the Distillery. Founder Scott Griffin this year increased the value of the twin awards by $10,000 to $50,000 each, making them the most generous literary awards in English Canada, and for poetry anywhere. He also foots the bill to take the winners to several international literary festivals.  June 2, 2005 Roo Borson wins Griffin Poetry Prize for Short Journey Upriver Toward Oishida by Anne-Marie Tobin, Canadian Press Roo Borson has won the $50,000 Griffin Poetry Prize awarded to a Canadian, while Charles Simic of New Hampshire collected an equivalent amount for the international portion of the prestigious award Thursday night. Cheques were handed out at a dinner bash in the historic distillery district attended by hundreds of guests, including Gov. Gen. Adrienne Clarkson, founder Scott Griffin and writer Margaret Atwood.  May 26, 2005 Simply Simic by Emily Schultz Poet Charles Simic speaks with care. Its not hesitation in his voice, but pacing, almost as if his sentences have line breaks already built into them. While this is enhanced by his Eastern European accent, lingering after 50-plus years in North America, speaking from his home in New Hampshire, its his thoughtfulness that stands out as Simic talks about what it means to live and write from the time of the Beats to the current day. A previous winner of the Pulitzer Prize as well as many fellowships, Simic is now one of four finalists for the $50,000 international Griffin Poetry Prize. His book, Selected Poems: 19632003, was chosen from a pool of 433 entries submitted from 17 different countries. With the hope of fostering an international poetry community, Torontos Scott Griffin founded the Griffin Awards in 2000, backed by a foundation including poetry heavyweights Margaret Atwood and Michael Ondaatje. 
April 19, 2005 Beer and poetry so Canadian by Simon Houpt A gaggle of Canadian poets will hoist books and beers in New York this week at three events to help publicize a landmark achievement: the first publication in recent memory of a Canadian poetry anthology in the United States
Griffin Poetry Prize founder Scott Griffin will be on hand to present 755 volumes of Canadian poetry to bolster the 45,000-title library at Poets House. The donation, organized by a staffer at the local consulate, came from more than 30 publishers including Coach House Press, House of Anansi, Key Porter, McClelland & Stewart, Broken Jaw, Porcupines Quill and Brick Books. Ekstasis Editions and Turnstone Press each donated more than 100 volumes. 
April 14, 2005 Poetry: a career with a future by Pieta Woolley The judges for one of the planets richest literary prizes agree: British Columbia makes great poets. All three of the Canadian poets on the shortlist for the 2005 Griffin Poetry Prize have a local connection.  April 7, 2005 Short list revealed for Griffin Poetry Prize Poetry had tended to slip out of the mainstream of our cultural lives. Poets were not only at the back of the bus, Im not even sure they were even on the bus, founder Scott Griffin told CBC News at Wednesday evenings announcement, which unveiled the short list as well as the new prize amount [$100,000], increased from the previous $80,000. When establishing the prize in 2000, with the help of trustees such as Margaret Atwood and Michael Ondaatje, the Toronto businessman wanted to promote, celebrate and encourage the writing of poetry worldwide.  April 7, 2005 Three Canadians on shortlist for annual Griffin poetry prize Canadian Press Three Canadians are among seven poets to make the short list for this years Griffin Poetry Prize, it was announced Wednesday by the prizes trustees. A record-breaking 433 books from 17 countries were submitted for the prize, awarded for the two best books of poetry, including translations, published in English the previous year. Each winning poet receives $50,000.
 November 7, 2004 Talking with August Kleinzahler Poet and Memoirist Growing Up Jersey By Philip Connors Cutty, One Rock (Farrar, Straus & Giroux, $19), which includes the title essay and eight others, many of them also published in the London Review, is an unexpected debut in prose for August Kleinzahler. Known in this country chiefly as a poet, he writes hilariously in Cutty about growing up Jewish in an Italian neighborhood of Fort Lee, N.J., where the school playground was like a theme park for Tourettes syndrome.  October 30, 2004 BBC Radio 3 - The Verb with host Ian MacMillan Margaret Atwood and Robert Bringhurst talk to Ian MacMillan about the Classical Hyda Mythtellers, the native American stories which Atwood describes as An American Iliad.  October 30, 2004 Hot ticket: Canadian poets by Elizabeth Renzetti LONDON -- The Griffin Poetry Prize rolled into London this week, and conquered without even firing a shot. It was a red-carpet greeting for Canadian writers during the Poetry International festival in London. A reading featuring five writers, including Margaret Atwood and Anne Carson, was standing-room only at the Royal Festival Hall, and The Times Literary Supplement commissioned and published poems from four of the poets on the bill. The reading is the hot ticket of the festival, said Scott Griffin, benefactor of the Griffin Prize and a one-man campaign to put poetry at the centre of cultural life. It will be a significant cut above what else youve seen. It really will be the highlight of the festival.  July 28, 2004 Deep-Sea Creature August Kleinzahler never wrote a best-seller. Award-winning poets seldom do. by Jonathan Kiefer In person Kleinzahler is more an even and amiable listener than the cranky, judgmental, viciously funny son-of-a-bitch he can be in print.  July, 2004 The Griffin Poetry Prize 2004(Link to Acrobat [PDF] newsletter) The Ambassador - Canada Cuba Literary Alliance magazine by Kimberley E. Grove On Wednesday, June 2, the Cinderella story came to life for the Canadian poetry scene. Instead of the usual small gathering of 20-30 committed poetry fans, the large auditorium at the Edward Johnson building was filled. El 2 de junio, la historia de Cenicienta se hizo realidad para el panorama de la poesía canadiense. En lugar de la usualmente pequeña reunión de 20 a 30 admiradores comprometidos con la poesía, el gran auditorio del edificio Edward Johnson estaba lleno.  June 19, 2004 Wanted: verse of distinction Review of The Griffin Poetry Prize Anthology: A Selection of the 2004 Shortlist by Fraser Sutherland By now we know which two poets won this years Griffin Poetry Prize. From Canadian candidates, the judges Phyllis Webb and two former national poets laureate, Bill Manhire of New Zealand and Billy Collins of the United States chose Anne Simpson for Loop, bleak, well-wrought poems about historys nightmares. Simpson conducts exhumations and postmortems, and tracks the scars of the human record.  June 16, 2004 Low-profile writer wins lucrative poetry prize by Claudia La Rocco The Associated Press August Kleinzahler, a fiercely independent poet who has never hidden his disdain for the creative writing establishment, was awarded the $29,200 [US] Griffin Poetry Prize earlier this month for his latest collection, The Strange Hours Travelers Keep.  June 5, 2004 Power partying for the lit and glit crew by Leanne Delap Thursday evening was a drag for cab drivers, what with major downtown arteries blocked and about 2,000 revellers gaily commuting to two major galas on the waterfront and all the attendant pre-party cocktails and after-party, well, more cocktails around town.  June 4, 2004 U.S. Poet Wins Canadian Poetry Prize By Colin McClelland Associated Press Writer U.S. poet August Kleinzahler has won one of the world's most prestigious poetry prizes, Canada's $29,200 Griffin Prize, for his book, "The Strange Hours Travelers Keep."  June 4, 2004 Poets Simpson, Kleinzahler share $80,000 Griffin Prize Two poets – an Atlantic Canadian and an American with a Canadian pedigree – were named winners of the 2004 Griffin Poetry Prize in Toronto Thursday evening. Griffin Prize for Poetry Special with Eleanor WachtelLast night, the Griffin Prize honoured outstanding poetry from Canada and elsewhere. Tonight, Eleanor Wachtel brings you highlights from the awards gala, along with the poets and their work, in a one-hour special edition of The Arts Today and Between the Covers.  June 4, 2004 Two poets scoop Griffin Cheered by 400 enthusiasts Poetry `coming back in fashion' by Judy Stoffman Anne Simpson of Antigonish, N.S., and August Kleinzahler, who lives in San Francisco, split the English-speaking world's richest poetry prize last night at a gala dinner for 400 hosted at the Distillery District by Toronto philanthropist Scott Griffin.  June 3, 2004 Nova Scotia poet takes home the Griffin by Rebecca Caldwell Nova Scotia poet Anne Simpson was named the Canadian winner of the $40,000 Griffin Poetry Prize for her work Loop, during a raucous ceremony last night in Toronto's historic Distillery district.  May 30, 2004 To passion and cash It's Griffin Prize week, which marks the arrival of Canada's true poetry month — see what a bulging wallet can do? by Noah Richler June is
now the true "poetry month" in Canada. It is a development attributable in its entirety to the success of the Griffin Poetry Prize, to be awarded Thursday in Toronto. It is actually quite remarkable, what passion and piles of cash can do.  May 29, 2004 'A kind of music must occur' by Rebecca Caldwell As they prepare to announce the winners of this year's lucrative Griffin Prize for poetry, judges Bill Manhire, Billy Collins and Phyllis Webb talk to Rebecca Caldwell about the search for a 'compelling voice,' and what it's like to read 40 books of verse a day.  April 17, 2004 Consider yourself warned by Clarise Foster Now You Care, by acclaimed poet and essayist Di Brandt, takes its title from this line in one of the most disturbing pieces in her fifth and most ambitious poetry collection: Now that its much too late/ now you care.  April 1, 2004 Windsor poet a finalist for two lit prizes Makes Trillium, Griffin short lists Hopes it will fan interest in verse by Judy Stoffman Short lists for two major literary prizes were announced yesterday — a lucky day for poet Di Brandt, who was the only one in the running for both the Trillium prize, Ontario's highest literary honour, and the Griffin prize, the richest poetry award in the world.  April 1, 2004
big day for book prizes by Michael Posner with a report from Ray Conlogue
Elsewhere, the Griffin Trust, sponsor of the worlds richest prizes for poetry $80,000 announced the 2004 nominees. Im shaking, said Di Brandt, on learning she was one of three nominated for the $40,000 prize given to the Canadian winner. Im not good at surprises.  March 31, 2004 Short list for Griffin Poetry Prize unveiled The short list for the 2004 Griffin Poetry Prize was announced Wednesday. The organizers of the award, which has a purse of $80,000, bill it as the most lucrative prize to accept books of poetry from any country in the world.  March, 2004 Jet-propelled jaunts Peter Campion follows the exhilarating leaps of August Kleinzahler's lively imagination in The Strange Hours Travelers Keep From the highways of Texas to the quays of Paris, from San Franciscos Chinatown to the Asiatic steppes: the poems in August Kleinzahlers latest collection zoom across the map, gaining speed as they go. But theres seldom any jetlag to this poets lines. Travel seems to offer Kleinzahler an array of heightened feeling tones. Previous Griffin Poetry Prize coverage, including launch |