Books

Whitehorse writer Dawn Macdonald wins $10K Canadian First Book Prize for debut poetry collection

Macdonald's collection Northerny explores the messiness, beauty and pain of growing up in the North. Now in its third year, the award celebrates a Canadian first book of poetry written in English.

Macdonald's collection Northerny is a fresh take on growing up in the North

A photo of a woman with long curly gray hair.
Dawn Macdonald is a writer based in Whitehorse. (University of Alberta Press)

Dawn Macdonald has won the Canadian First Book Prize for her debut poetry collection Northerny

The Whitehorse-based writer will receive $10,000 and a six-week residency in Italy, in partnership with the Civitella Ranieri Foundation. 

Now in its third year, the prize celebrates a Canadian first book of poetry written in English. It was established by the revamped Griffin Poetry Prize as part of its two-decade anniversary celebration.

A book cover of a little shack and a shining moon.

Northerny is a fresh and unsentimental take on growing up and living in the North. It breaks free of the perception of the North as a way to enlightenment or escape and offers a portrait of the region in all its messiness, beauty and pain.

Macdonald presently lives in Whitehorse and is an institutional researcher at Yukon University. Northerny is her debut book, and her poetry has been published in The Antigonish Review, Canadian Literature, The Fiddlehead, FOLIO, Grain, Literary Review of Canada and The Malahat Review, among others. 

This year's winner was selected from a jury comprised of Canadian poet Anne Michaels, Irish poet Nick Laird and Polish poet Tomasz Różycki.  

"Dawn MacDonald's Northerny is a blast of crisp Yukon air," said the jury in a press statement. 

"Funny and fresh, unexpected and daring, it understands 'the personal is heretical,' and glories in that fact. It's a rush, a relief, and remakes with impishness the notion of what a poem can be." 

Founded in 2000 by Canadian entrepreneur and philanthropist Scott Griffin, the annual Griffin Poetry Prize previously awarded $65,000 to two works of English-language poetry from the previous year — one Canadian and one international.

In 2023, the Griffin Poetry Prize combined its existing Canadian and international categories into a single $130,000 award. It currently stands as the world's largest international prize for a single book of poetry written in or translated into English. 

The 2025 winner will be announced on June 4 at Koerner Hall in Toronto, featuring readings from the finalists before the big reveal — including one by Macdonald as the winner of the Canadian First Book Prize.

Margaret Atwood will also be honoured as the recipient of the Griffin Poetry Prize's 2025 Lifetime Recognition Award and will present a reading at the event. 

Last year, St. John's writer Maggie Burton won the Canadian First Book Prize for her debut poetry collection Chores

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