On the Ground Shortlisted for Griffin Poetry Prize

April 6, 2005—Graywolf Press is proud to announce that On the Ground by Fanny Howe has been shortlisted for the 2005 Griffin Poetry Prize, as announced by Scott Griffin and David Young Trustees of The Griffin Trust For Excellence In Poetry. Characterized by the judges as “an essential book for our times,” On the Ground confirms Howe’s reputation as one of America’s most relevant and visceral contemporary poets. The seven finalists—three Canadian and four international—will be invited to read in Toronto at the MacMillan Theatre on June 1st. The winners will be announced on June 2nd.

The Canadian Shortlist
Short Journey Upriver Toward Oishida  • Roo Borson (McClelland and Stewart Ltd.)
Changing on the Fly  • George Bowering (Polestar/Raincoast Books)
Camber  • Don McKay (McClelland and Stewart Ltd.)

The International Shortlist
On the Ground  • Fanny Howe (Graywolf Press)
Corpus  • Michael Symmons Roberts (Jonathan Cape)
A Green Light  • Matthew Rohrer (Verse Press)
Selected Poems: 1963-2003  • Charles Simic (Faber and Faber)

The judges for 2005 are the distinguished poets Simon Armitage (United Kingdom), Erin Moure (Canada), and Tomaz Salamun (Slovenia).

The C$100,000 Griffin Poetry Prize (increased this year from C$80,000) is the most lucrative prize to accept books of poetry from any country in the world. The prize is awarded annually for the two best books of poetry published in English the previous year.

Fanny Howe is the author of over twenty books of poetry and prose including Gone: Poems (2003), Selected Poems (2000), Forged (1999), One Crossed Out (1997), O'Clock (1995), The End (1992), For Erato; The Meaning of Life (1984), Alsace-Lorraine (1982) and Poem from a Single Pallet (1980). The recipient of the 2002 Lenore Marshall Poetry Prize for Selected Poems (2000), she has also won many awards and fellowships. She is Professor Emerita of Writing and Literature at the University of California, San Diego.

Tickets for the readings to be held on June 1st at the MacMillan Theatre are available at www.griffinpoetryprize.com/tickets or by calling 905 565 5993.