2006 Griffin Poetry Prize winner Kamau Brathwaite was born on this date in 1930.
Birthdate of Kamau Brathwaite
2022 Griffin Poetry Prize deadline (2 of 2) for entries
Today is the second of two deadlines for the 2022 Griffin Poetry Prize. Books must be submitted postmarked no later than December 31, 2020 for books published between July 1 and December 31, 2020.
Learn more here about how to enter and how to obtain entry forms.
The Moth Nature Writing Prize submission deadline
The Moth Nature Writing Prize aims to encourage and celebrate the art of nature writing. It will be awarded to an unpublished piece of prose fiction or non-fiction or poetry which best combines exceptional literary merit with an exploration of the writer’s relationship with the natural world.
The prize is open to anyone over the age of sixteen, as long as the work is original and previously unpublished.
Each year a single judge is asked to choose one winner from entries worldwide, to feature in the winter issue of The Moth. The winner receives €1,000 and a week at Circle of Misse in France. This year’s judge is Helen MacDonald.
Studying Syntax – poetry writing class
South Bank Poetry Editor Katherine Lockton runs regular Saturday poetry writing classes online. Join South Bank Poetry for their online programme of poetry writing classes, which provide a fun, personal and accessible approach to learning how to write poetry, in a friendly environment that puts the student’s learning experience first.
This class focuses on how you can liven up your syntax and rethink the order of words.
Focusing on Rhyme – poetry writing class
South Bank Poetry Editor Katherine Lockton runs regular Saturday poetry writing classes online. Join South Bank Poetry for their online programme of poetry writing classes, which provide a fun, personal and accessible approach to learning how to write poetry, in a friendly environment that puts the student’s learning experience first.
The class level for this session is beginner friendly. The class examines what rhyme adds to our poems and how can we use it. Should we rhyme? Is it still poetry if it doesn’t rhyme?
The Sealey Challenge
During the month of August, participants read a poetry chapbook or full-length collection a day for 31 days while sharing their reads on social media using the hashtag #TheSealeyChallenge, named after poet Nicole Sealey.
The VMI Betsy Warland Between Genres Award submission period
The VMI Betsy Warland Between Genres Award is for a book published in Canada in 2021 that is a hybrid genre, or straddles two or more genres. The winner will receive $500 at a ceremony at The Vancouver Writers Fest in Fall 2021, presented by judge Wayde Compton with Betsy Warland, special guest of honour. Two Honourable Mentions (no cash prize) will also be awarded.
Looking at the Line – poetry writing class
South Bank Poetry Editor Katherine Lockton runs regular Saturday poetry writing classes online. Join South Bank Poetry for their online programme of poetry writing classes, which provide a fun, personal and accessible approach to learning how to write poetry, in a friendly environment that puts the student’s learning experience first.
The class level for this session is beginner friendly. It asks “Is there such a thing as a perfect line of poetry? How can you control the line?” Poetry techniques taught focus on how to manipulate the poetic line.
Sage Hill Writing Experience – Summer Poetry Course (online) with Jordan Abel
This is a facilitated course for six poets who have published some work and are working towards manuscript completion. The course offers a small group context. Focus will be on writing time, individual critiques, and on group discussions dealing with technical, philosophical, or conceptual issues in contemporary poetry. Application is open to writers 19 years of age and older from Canada and abroad.
This year’s instructor is Jordan Abel, a Nisga’a writer from Vancouver, author of The Place of Scraps (winner of the Dorothy Livesay Poetry Prize), Un/inhabited, and Injun (winner of the Griffin Poetry Prize)