The CBC Poetry Prize is one of Canada’s most prestigious awards for the form. Judged by eminent Canadian writers, CBC Literary Awards have been motivating and encouraging the careers of writers in this country since 1979.
So it was a happy day when I received word from CBC that my poem, “All My Questions Kneel Down,” had landed on the 2020 CBC Poetry Prize longlist. I shared the honour with 31 fine poets. Our work was selected from a pool of over 3,000 entries. (I’m second row, second from the right.)
https://www.cbc.ca/books/literaryprizes/32-writers-make-the-2020-cbc-poetry-prize-longlist-1.5764109
Here’s what I told CBC about my poem:
"All My Questions Kneel Down” became a meditation on love. Early drafts included question marks that shifted the tone so I replaced them all with periods. I suspected that the poem was reaching for wonder, not for answers, but it would be at least five years before I found the ending.
During a holiday in Arizona, I spotted a flock of talcum-white egrets feeding near a pond at sunset. I watched from a patio as each long, thin angular neck began to resemble the very punctuation that I had resisted using in the poem. I thought, a gathering of question marks. I opened the poem when I returned home, moved the line into the final piece, revised once more, and finished the sequence.
The winner of the 2020 CBC Poetry Prize was Montreal poet Matthew Hollett. His gorgeous poem, “Tickling the Scar,” is included here: https://www.cbc.ca/books/literaryprizes/tickling-the-scar-by-matthew-hollett-1.5773063
As part of the awards process, CBC Books asked me to write a few words of advice for other writers. Here’s the tip that I shared:
Stockpile red-blooded verbs. Hunt as you read fiction, science, poetry, advice for the lovelorn. Underline, circle, highlight the muscle, the flex, the lift. Listen. Steal verbs that spike your daughter’s rant. Riffle a sermon. Ditto for film, TV, that late-night binge. Stay alert. Re-write, revise. Strike the weak, yoke the strong.
Update May 2021: The 2021 CBC Poetry Prize is now open for entries until May 31 at 11:59 p.m. ET. More information here: https://www.cbc.ca/books/literaryprizes/calling-all-poets-the-cbc-poetry-prize-is-now-open-1.5968467