32 writers make the 2020 CBC Poetry Prize longlist

• Field Guide by Lisa Baird (Guelph, Ont.)
• Of by Sheri Benning (Saskatoon)
• Conversations with Niton, Have you ever fallen in love with a day by Selina Boan (Vancouver)
• Pteropus: Fruit Bats by Yvonne Blomer (Victoria)
• The Tug of War by Leah Callen (Regina)
• Field Notes by Sharon King-Campbell (St. John’s)
• A Garden in the Rain by Dell Catherall (Vancouver)
• Another Sunday in a Square in Aleppo by Antony Di Nardo (Cobourg, Ont.)
• & this too by Tina Do (Vancouver)
• Where, Eh? by Veronica Gaylie (Vancouver)
• Three Body Problem by Chantal Gibson (New Westminster, B.C.)
• alley/bird/ally by Hiromi Goto (Victoria)
• Tickling the Scar by Matthew Hollett (Montreal)
• Self Portrait as Cassandra Reading the News by Kyla Jamieson (Vancouver)
• All My Questions Kneel Down by Katherine Lawrence (Saskatoon)
• Ballet for the Apocalypse by Christine Mazumdar (Montreal)
• Tucson Boots by Kathleen McCracken (Northern Ireland)
• Let’s Not Bring The Will Into This by Amanda Merritt (Victoria)
• Lacuna and The Fisherman by Anna Moore (Victoria)
• She sits down to write the history of rain and suddenly the wild fall into order by Pamela Porter (Sidney, B.C.)
• Driver’s Seat & Grief Knot by Kerry Ryan (Winnipeg)
• Origin by Kiana Rawji (Calgary)
• Learning to Count by Emily Riddle (Edmonton)
• Adipose Glose by Andrea Scott (Victoria)
• A pile of folded clothes by Troy Sebastian |nupqu ʔak·ǂam̓ (Victoria)
• Birthmark, Motherfield by Diana Hope Tegenkamp (Saskatoon)
• Unseasonal, Stone Fruit, In the Tape, Athabasca by Owen Torrey (Toronto)
• On the Imminent Destruction of Portage Place Mall by Chimwemwe Undi (Winnipeg)
• Goalie by Ben von Jagow (Stockholm, Sweden)
• A Sichuan Diaspora Daughter’s Kitchen by Yilin Wang (Vancouver)
• A Blue Filter by Sheryda Warrener (Vancouver)
• The Bones by Patricia Young (Victoria)

The longlist was selected from almost 3,000 English-language submissions.

A team of writers and editors from across Canada compiled the list. The jury then selects the shortlist and the eventual winner from the readers’ longlisted selections.

The 2020 jury is comprised of Kaie Kellough, Dionne Brand and Stephen Collis. They will select the shortlist and the winner.

The shortlist will be announced on Nov. 5 and the winner will be announced on Nov. 12.

The winner of the 2020 CBC Poetry Prize will receive $6,000 from the Canada Council for the Arts, have their work published on CBC Books and will have the opportunity to attend a two-week writing residency at the Banff Centre for Arts and Creativity.

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 Calgary writer Alycia Pirmohamed for her collection of poems, Love Poem with Elk and Punctuation, Prairie Storm and Tasbih.

The longlist for the French-language competition has also been revealed. To read more, go to the Prix du récit Radio-Canada.

The CBC Literary Prizes have been recognizing Canadian writers since 1979. Past winners include Michael Ondaatje, Carol Shields, Michael Winter and Frances Itani.​

If you’re interested in other writing competitions, check out the CBC Literary Prizes.

The CBC Short Story Prize is currently open and accepting submissions until Oct. 31, 2020.

The 2021 CBC Nonfiction Prize will open in January. The 2021 CBC Poetry Prize will open in April.