27 writers from across Canada make 2024 CBC Poetry Prize longlist
The winner will receive $6,000, a writing residency and have their work published on CBC Books
Twenty-seven writers from across Canada have been longlisted for the 2024 CBC Poetry Prize.
The complete list is:
- Borderland by Howard Anglin (Calgary)
- on the last day of ramzan, the moon makes the sun in its image by Manahil Bandukwala (Ottawa)
- Lament by Jessica Bebenek (Montreal)
- Citrus Dreams by Elena Bentley (Clavet, Sask.)
- When it's 9:48pm and the kids are asleep and you realize you've spent the entire night on your phone by Nicole Boyce (Calgary)
- ABC Gum by Devlin (Halifax)
- scar/city I by Daniela Elza (Vancouver)
- I Thought I Might by Tamsyn Farr (Wakefield, Que.)
- Score Before Cutting by Claire Gordon (Ucluelet, B.C.)
- There is no neutral way to say I was fourteen by Cicely Grace (Vancouver)
- After Icebergs by Matthew Hollett (St. John's)
- a house in O's name by Eimear Laffan (Nelson, B.C.)
- Gas Station Coffee by Paula Lemke (Langley, B.C.)
- magdalene sonnets by Louie Leyson (Vancouver)
- 吃苦 (Eat the Bitterness) by Emily Yiling Ma (Burnaby, B.C.)
- Kananaskis by Kathleen McCracken (Belfast, Northern Ireland)
- A Tenuous Life Act, I Lay Dreaming by Sasha Pickering (Halifax)
- Regeneration and other poems by Katherine Poyner (Nanaimo, B.C.)
- Girls of the Now by Dora Prieto (Vancouver)
- No Apples and Oranges by Marion Quednau (Sechelt, B.C.)
- i'll expect big things from the moon later tonight by c. a. r. rafuse (Ottawa)
- Song for the Earth and the Water by Harold Rhenisch (Vernon, B.C.)
- Palimpsest County by Rachel Robb (Toronto)
- Doom Scroll by Jenny Sampirisi (Toronto)
- Northern Childhood by Eleonore Schönmaier (Ketch Harbour, N.S.)
- Some Notes on Intoxication and Simile: Like Butterscotch by Catherine St. Denis (Victoria)
- The Killer and the Harpist by Catherine St. Denis (Victoria)
- The Rupture by Ayşe Lara Yildirim (Toronto)
The longlist was selected from more than 2,700 entries. Submissions are processed by a two-tiered system: the initial texts are screened by a reading committee chosen for each category from a group of qualified editors and writers across the country. Each submission is read by two readers.
The readers come up with a preliminary list of approximately 100 submissions that are then forwarded to a second reading committee. It is this committee who will decide upon the approximately 30 entries that comprise the longlist that is forwarded to the jury.
Works are judged anonymously on the basis of the participant's use of language, originality of subject and writing style.
The jury selects the shortlist and the eventual winner from the readers' longlisted selections. This year's jury is composed of Shani Mootoo, Garry Gottfriedson and Emily Austin.
The shortlist will be announced on Nov. 14, and the winner will be announced on Nov. 21.
The winner of the 2024 CBC Poetry Prize will receive $6,000 from the Canada Council for the Arts, a two-week writing residency at Banff Centre for Arts and Creativity and their work will be published on CBC Books.
Four finalists will each receive $1,000 from the Canada Council for the Arts and have their work published on CBC Books.
Last year's winner was Kyo Lee — the youngest ever CBC Poetry Prize winner — for her poem lotus flower blooming into breasts.
The longlist for the French-language competition has also been revealed. To read more, go to the Prix de poésie Radio-Canada.
The CBC Literary Prizes have been recognizing Canadian writers since 1979. Past winners include Susan Musgrave, Lorna Crozier, Alison Pick, Michael Ondaatje and Carol Shields.
If you're interested in other writing competitions, check out the CBC Literary Prizes. The 2025 CBC Nonfiction Prize will open in January and the 2025 CBC Poetry Prize will open in April. The CBC Short Story Prize will open in September.
