Griffin Poetry Prize reinstates Canadian award, keeps larger international purse

TORONTO – The Griffin Poetry Prize is bringing back its Canada-specific award and keeping the  hefty international prize in place in an effort to satisfy poets who felt disenfranchised when the two awards merged three years ago, benefactor Scott Griffin said Wednesday.

A quiet conflict emerged within Canada’s poetry scene when Griffin combined what used to be two separate categories worth $65,000 apiece for homegrown and international talent into a single purse of $130,000.

“Three years ago, we thought we were providing an opportunity for Canadian poets to participate in the international prize,” Griffin said by phone. “But what we didn’t see was that the Canadian poetry community wouldn’t see it as an opportunity but at a loss of their prize, and I think that was short-sighted of us.”

The Griffin Trust says the Canadian Poetry Prize will be reinstated with its original value, while the international prize will stay at $130,000.

Importantly, Griffin said, Canadian poets will also be eligible for the international prize — but the same poet cannot win both awards in a single year. If a Canadian wins the international prize, a different book will be selected for the Canadian award. 

The international and Canadian winners will be selected from the same pool of candidates.

“This way, I think now we give Canadian poets the best of both worlds,” he said.

The move follows an online consultation and a town hall that prize organizers launched when no Canadian poets made the long list this year.

Critics argued the change took away a rare opportunity to spotlight Canadian talent.

“We felt that it’s really important to have the Canadian poetry community get behind us and feel good about this prize,” Griffin said. “And it was clear that we were not going to be able to get there without giving them the prize.” 

Griffin said a three-panel jury will always include a Canadian, and if there are no Canadian finalists, the book they deem the best work of poetry by a Canadian will win the $65,000 prize. 

The Griffin Trust also announced changes to the rules for translated works submitted to the international prize.

Previously, the translator received 60 per cent of the prize money and the original poet got 40. Now, it will be an even split.

There’s also now a requirement that original poet still be alive, though Griffin noted the judges will have some discretion over this. For example, something like the late poet Christopher Logue’s ongoing work to transform “The Iliad” into a modernist poem — a volume of which was shortlisted for the international award in 2002, when Logue was still alive — could still be considered, though Homer is obviously long dead.

Griffin said a translation of the collected works of a poet — that is, every poem they’ve written — will no longer qualify for the Griffin, but translations of selected works will be.

“A number of people have in the past said it’s very hard for a full lifetime body of work to compete against a single edition,” he said.

Ultimately, he said, he wanted to make sure the Canadian poetry community sees that the prize is responsive to them.

This report by The Canadian Press was first published June 10, 2026.