Ten books of poetry are in the running for the seventh annual Fred Cogswell Award.
The Royal City Literary Arts Society has named its longlist for the 2020 Fred Cogswell Award For Excellence in Poetry. The society presents the award annually to honour books of poetry published in Canada, in English, in the preceding year.
“The 2020 longlist is long indeed. Out of the 115 books I read (and, in many cases, re-read), there were at least 20 strong collections of poetry that could have been on this long list. But that was not possible,” said 2020 Cogswell award judge Rachel Rose. “Here are 10 exceptional books of poetry published in Canada in 2019. Read them. Experience them. Be inspired and changed by them.”
This year’s longlist includes:
Renaissance Normcore, by Adèle Barclay (Nightwood Editions)
Under the Gamma Camera, by Madeline Bassnett (Gaspereau Press)
Fresh Pack of Smokes, by Cassandra Blanchard (Nightwood Editions)
What is Long Past Occurs in Full Light, by Marilyn Bowering (Mother Tongue Publishing)
The Dark Set, by Tim Bowling (Buckrider Books/Wolsak&Wynn)
Salt and Ashes, by Adrienne Drobnies (Signature Editions)
How She Read, by Chantal Gibson (Caitlin Press)
Wild Madder, by Brenda Leifso (Brick Books)
The Danger Model, by Madelaine Caritas Longman (McGill-Queen's University Press)
Insult to the Brain, by Nicola Vulpe (Guernica Editions)
The top three winners will be announced in early December. For full details, see http://rclas.com/awards-contests/fred-cogswell-award/
