The 2020 Griffin Poetry Prize Anthology: A Selection of the Shortlist

by Hoa Nguyen (Editor)

The highly anticipated annual anthology of the best Canadian and international poetry.

Each year, the best books of poetry published in English internationally and in Canada are honoured with the Griffin Poetry Prize, one of the world’s most prestigious and richest literary awards. Since 2001, this annual prize has tremendously spurred interest in and recognition of poetry, focusing worldwide attention on the formidable talent of poets writing in English and works in translation. Annually, The Griffin Poetry Prize Anthology features the work of the extraordinary poets shortlisted for the awards and introduces us to some of the finest poems in their collections.

Genres: Poetry

120 pages, Kindle Edition

First published June 2, 2020

About the author

Hoa Nguyen [(Vĩnh Long, 1967)] was born in the Mekong Delta, grew up in the DC area and studied poetics in San Francisco. She is the author of 8 books and chapbooks, most recently Hecate Lochia (Hot Whiskey, 2009), Kiss a Bomb Tattoo (Effing Press, 2009) and Chinaberry (Fact Simile, 2010). Based in Austin, TX, Hoa curates a reading series and leads a creative writing workshop.

Reviews

[Michelle · Rating 3 out of 5]

Some powerful poetry prevented this from being a 2. A couple times, I write "wow" in the margin. We all like different things, and some of this just didn't do it for me.

Some of the intro and descriptions seemed overly complex because of language and word choice. You know how folks like to (rightly) criticize business for jargon? Some of this writing felt like poetry jargon. I would have appreciated a more straightforward way of writing. Why not?

Quotes (not formatted)

"In the proximity of love...time no longer measures itself against the body." (36, Sarah Riggs)

"If you must choose a burden, choose one that nourishes." (78, Doyali Islam)

[Abbigail K · Rating 4 out of 5]

I thoroughly enjoyed this collection. I found some new poets in this collection, and I look forward to reading their collections. I especially recommend Magnetic Equator by Kaie Kellough and Sarah Riggs' translation of Etel Adnan's Time. I loved the excerpts from "No Sky" and "Baalbeck," especially the opening of "No Sky":

"In the proximity of love,
dispersion
refraction,
time no longer measures itself
against the body ... "

I recommend giving the 2020 collection a read if you enjoyed the 2019 collection.