Griffin shortlist announced

Canadian Shortlist

Airstream Land Yacht • Ken Babstock
House of Anansi Press

Strike/Slip • Don McKay
McClelland & Stewart

Ontological Necessities • Priscila Uppal
Exile Editions

International Shortlist

Tramp in Flames • Paul Farley
Picador

Salvation Blues • Rodney Jones
Houghton Mifflin

Ooga-Booga • Frederick Seidel
Farrar, Straus and Giroux

Scar Tissue • Charles Wright
Farrar, Straus and Giroux

It's an incredibly strong field this year. I've already read four of these books (Babstock, McKay, Jones, and Seidel). That has to be a Griffin shortlist record for me.

This is Don McKay's third nomination. Could the third time be the charm? Rodney Jones has already won the Kinglsey Tufts award for Salvation Blues. Will the Griffin follow suit?

The seven finalists – three Canadian and four International – will be invited to read in Toronto at the MacMillan Theatre on Tuesday, June 5, 2007. The winners, who each receive C$50,000, will be announced on Wednesday, June 6, 2007 at the seventh annual Griffin Poetry Prize Awards Evening. Read the press release.

Congratulations to all the finalists.

PS. MORE GRIFFIN BUZZ:

Globe and Mail 1
Globe and Mail 2
The Toronto Star
CBC.ca
The Waterloo Record