Shapiro, Shaughnessy Shortlisted for Griffin Prize

The Toronto–based Griffin Trust for Excellence in Poetry has announced the shortlist for its 2013 Griffin Poetry Prize. Two awards of $65,000 each are given annually for poetry collections published during the preceding year, one by a poet living in Canada and another by a poet living internationally.

The international finalists include Like a Straw Bird It Follows Me, and Other Poems, by Ghassan Zaqtan and translated from the Arabic by Fady Joudah (Yale University Press), Liquid Nitrogen by Jennifer Maiden (Giramondo Publishing), Night of the Republic by Alan Shapiro (Houghton Mifflin Harcourt), and Our Andromeda by Brenda Shaughnessy (Copper Canyon Press). The Canadian finalists include What’s the Score? by David W. McFadden (Mansfield Press), Sailing to Babylon by James Pollock (Able Muse Press), and Personals by Ian Williams (Freehand Books). 

Judges Suzanne Buffam of Canada, Mark Doty of the United States, and Wang Ping of China each read 509 books of poetry from 40 countries, including 15 translations.

The seven finalists, who will be invited to participate in a reading in Toronto on June 12, will each receive $10,000. The two winners, to be announced at the Griffin Poetry Prize Awards ceremony on June 13, will each receive $65,000.

The Griffin Trust was founded in April 2000 by Scott Griffin, along with trustees Margaret Atwood, Robert Hass, Michael Ondaatje, Robin Robertson, and David Young. Carolyn Forché joined the roster in 2004. Prize judges are selected annually by the trustees, and the prizes are awarded in the spring of each year.

Publishers may submit books for consideration by the annual deadline of December 31. Visit the Griffin Trust website for more information and complete guidelines.