Meet the Vancouver poet up for this year’s Griffin Prize

Each year, the Griffin Poetry Prize awards cash prizes to authors of what it selects as the best poetry books of the year.

This year, the Griffin Trust for Excellence in Poetry has selected seven books for its shortlist. All finalists attending the Shortlist Readings in Toronto on June 6 will receive $10,000. The two winners, to be announced the following day, receive $65k.

Among the finalists is Donato Mancini. Originally from Hamilton, Mancini moved to Vancouver in 2000. He’s currently in Baltimore, where he’s on scholarship as a post-doctoral fellow at John Hopkins University.

We talked to Mancini about his shortlisted book, Same Diff (published by local imprint Talonbooks) about the prize.

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Meet the Vancouver poet up for this year’s Griffin Prize

Buffy Sainte-Marie among the performers at this year’s Verses Festival of Words

Canadian music icon Buffy Sainte-Marie headlines this year’s Verses Festival of Words.

The singer/songwriter/activist is the most prominent figure at the spoken-word festival, which takes place April 19-29, with 30+ events across East Vancouver.

Along with Sainte-Marie, guests include radio host Janet Rogers, burlesque dancer Sparkle Plenty and cyber-punk poet Joshua Whitehead, amongst many others. In addition, a poetry competition will bring students from across B.C. to perform original works.

See below for a closer look at Verses, and some of the headliners.

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Buffy Sainte-Marie among the performers at this year’s Verses Festival of Words

4 Queer Vancouver Poets You Should Know

Daniel Zomparelli | Image via lemonhound.com

By Casey Stepaniuk

This is only a small smattering of the diverse, talented queer poets living in Vancouver. Don’t miss their work!

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4 Queer Vancouver Poets You Should Know