Nilsen, Enns, Belleau, & Morgan Capture 2018 League of Canadian Poets Awards

The League of Canadian Poets has announced the winners of their 2018 Annual Poetry Awards. This year marks a newly doubled prize purse for each award.

Gerald Lampert Memorial Award Winner:

Emily Nilsen for Otolith (Goose Lane Editions)

Established 1981, $2,000. Awarded to a debut book of poetry.

Jury: Laura McRae, Sandra Ridley, Clea Roberts

Raymond Souster Award Winner:

Karen Enns for Cloud Physics (University of Regina Press)

Established 2013, $2,000. Awarded to a book of poetry by a League of Canadian Poets member. 

Jury: Hendrik Slegtenhorst, Almeda Glenn Miller, Jimmy McInnes

Pat Lowther Memorial Award Winner:

Lesley Belleau for Indianland (ARP Books)

Established 1981 in honour of the late Pat Lowther, $2,000. Awarded to a book of poetry by a female-identifying author. 2018 Jury: Bruce Meyer, Cheryl Antao-Xavier, Julie Cameron Gray

Jury: Bruce Meyer, Cheryl Antao-Xavier, Julie Cameron Gray

The Sheri-D Wilson Golden Beret Award for Spoken Word Winner:

Dwayne Morgan

Established 2007, $2,000. Honours a Canadian spoken word artist who has made a substantial contribution to the development of spoken word, through the originality and excellence of his or her own writing/performance works, and through involvement in—and contributions to—the expansion of the spoken word community. 

Jury: Sheri-D Wilson, d’bi.young anitafrika, Ian Ferrier

In addition, acclaimed poet Marilyn Dumont is the recipient of the Life Membership Award. The University of Regina Press receives the Honorary Membership Award.

The prizes were presented on Saturday, June 16, 2018, at an awards luncheon hosted by Tanya Neumeyer at Toronto’s Harbroufront Centre, during the 2018 Canadian Writers’ Summit. 

Congratulations to Nilsen, Enns, Belleau, Morgan, and Dumont, and their publishers!

For more information about the award and the League of Canada Poets, please visit their website.