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About the Prize

The $60,000 Latner Griffin Writers' Trust Poetry Prize is awarded annually to a Canadian poet in mid-career who has published at least three collections of poetry that demonstrate mastery of the art. Poets will be recognized for a remarkable body of work and for their anticipated future contributions to Canadian poetry. All eligible poets will be considered, there is no age restriction, and no submission process.

The winner is selected by a three-member, independent judging panel and is announced annually at the Writers’ Trust Awards. The prize is generously sponsored by The Albert and Temmy Latner Family Foundation and Scott Griffin.

2024 Winner

Rita
Wong

Jury Citation

"Rita Wong’s immediate and necessary poetry takes the breath away. Wong is a poet of total commitment. Her poetry lives on the page, and she sometimes claims the margins as well. We can feel her heart in her words in ways that are both playful and blunt, razor-sharp and lyrically beautiful. Frankly political and decolonial, Wong accompanies her warrior’s poetry with intense meditations on heritage and ecology, often in the same moment. Wong’s body of work is remarkable, transformative, and inspiring." —2024 Latner Griffin Writers’ Trust Poetry Prize jury (Julie Pellissier-Lush, Ayaz Pirani, and Laisha Rosnau)

Author Page
“This generous and kind gift for poetry will be forever engraved on the landscape of my heart.”

Louise Bernice Halfe


2017 Latner Writers' Trust Poetry Prize winner

Sponsor

The Albert and Temmy Latner Family Foundation and Scott Griffin.