Charlie Petch is a Canadian writer and performer from Toronto, Ontario, [1] whose poetry collection Why I Was Late was the winner of the ReLit Award for poetry in 2022. [2]
Principally a spoken word poet, Petch was the founder of Hot Damn It's a Queer Slam and was Spoken Word Canada's poet of honour in 2017. [3] They have also written and performed a number of theatrical plays, most notably Mel Malarkey Gets the Bum's Rush. [1]
George Elliott Clarke, is a Canadian poet, playwright and literary critic who served as the Poet Laureate of Toronto from 2012 to 2015, and as the 2016–2017 Canadian Parliamentary Poet Laureate. His work is known largely for its use of a vast range of literary and artistic traditions, its lush physicality and its bold political substance. One of Canada's most illustrious poets, Clarke is also known for chronicling the experience and history of the Black Canadian communities of Nova Scotia and New Brunswick, creating a cultural geography that he has coined "Africadia".
Anne Michaels is a Canadian poet and novelist whose work has been translated and published in over 45 countries. Her books have garnered dozens of international awards including the Orange Prize, the Guardian Fiction Prize, the Lannan Award for Fiction and the Commonwealth Poetry Prize for the Americas. She is the recipient of honorary degrees, the Guggenheim Fellowship and many other honours. She has been shortlisted for the Governor General's Award, the Griffin Poetry Prize, twice shortlisted for the Giller Prize and twice long-listed for the International Dublin Literary Award. Michaels won a 2019 Vine Award for Infinite Gradation, her first volume of non-fiction. Michaels was the poet laureate of Toronto, Ontario, Canada from 2016 to 2019, and she is perhaps best known for her novel Fugitive Pieces, which was adapted for the screen in 2007.
Robert Priest is a Canadian poet, children's author and singer-songwriter. He has written eighteen books of poetry, four children's novels, four children's albums, and six CDs of songs and poems. Under the alias "Dr Poetry", he has also written and performed two seasons of poetry on CBC Radio's spoken-word show "Wordbeat" and is well known for his aphorisms and the No. 1 Alannah Myles hit "Song Instead of a Kiss". Of his adult poetry, The Pacific Rim Review has written "He is certainly one of the most imaginatively inventive poets in the country," while critic Bernice Lever has opined "Robert Priest’s poems will speak to many generations." Robert's children's poetry is also much praised. "His poetry for children is almost miraculous" gushed pre-eminent children's literature critic Michele Landsberg, "It is almost pure celebration." The Toronto Star described his selected poems as "passionate, cocky, alternately adoring and insulting." Priest's plays, novels and songs have earned him awards and recognition in Canadian literary circles and a growing worldwide readership. His 2022 CD of songs Love is Hard produced by Bob Wiseman is currently streaming worldwide and available for download on 'CDbaby'.
Ken Babstock is a Canadian poet. He was born in Newfoundland and raised in the Ottawa Valley. Babstock began publishing his poems in journals and anthologies, winning gold at the 1997 Canadian National Magazine Awards. He lives in Toronto, Ontario.
Stuart Ross is a Canadian fiction writer, poet, editor, and creative-writing instructor.
Lisa Robertson is a Canadian poet, essayist and translator. She lives in France.
Alison Pick is a Canadian writer. She is most noted for her Booker Prize-nominated novel Far to Go, and was a winner of the Bronwen Wallace Memorial Award for most promising writer in Canada under 35.
Sheri-D Wilson, CM D. Litt, is a Canadian poet, spoken word artist, educator, speaker, producer and activist.
Phil Hall is a Canadian poet.
Kaie Kellough is a Canadian poet and novelist. He was born in Vancouver, British Columbia, raised in Calgary, Alberta, and in 1998 moved to Montreal, Quebec, where he lives.
Marion Quednau is a Canadian author, poet and children's writer who lives in British Columbia. Her novel, The Butterfly Chair, won the 1987 Books in Canada First Novel Award.
The ReLit Awards are Canadian literary prizes awarded annually to book-length works in the novel, short-story and poetry categories. Founded in 2000 by Newfoundland filmmaker and author Kenneth J. Harvey.
Ivan E. Coyote is a Canadian spoken word performer, writer, and LGBT advocate. Coyote has won many accolades for their collections of short stories, novels, and films. They also visit schools to tell stories and give writing workshops. The CBC has called Coyote a "gender-bending author who loves telling stories and performing in front of a live audience." Coyote is non-binary and uses singular they pronouns. Many of Coyote's stories are about gender, identity, and social justice. Coyote currently resides in Vancouver, British Columbia.
Ian Williams is a Canadian poet and fiction writer. His collection of short stories, Not Anyone's Anything, won the Danuta Gleed Literary Award, and his debut novel, Reproduction, was awarded the 2019 Giller Prize. His work has ben shortlisted for various awards, as well.
Carole Glasser Langille is a Canadian poet and author of three books of poetry.
Susan Holbrook is a Canadian poet, whose collection Throaty Wipes was shortlisted for the Governor General's Award for English-language poetry at the 2016 Governor General's Awards.
Canisia Lubrin is a writer, critic, professor, poet and editor. Originally from St. Lucia, Lubrin now lives in Whitby, Ontario, Canada.
Jillian Christmas is a Canadian poet from Vancouver, British Columbia. Her work focuses on anti-colonial narratives, family, heritage, and identity. She is most noted as the 2021 winner of the League of Canadian Poets' Sheri-D Wilson Golden Beret Award for spoken word poetry. Furthermore, she has represented both Vancouver and Toronto at 11 national poetry events and was the first Canadian to make the final stage at the Women of the World Poetry Slam.
Roxanna Bennett is a Canadian poet, whose 2019 collection Unmeaningable won the Raymond Souster Award and the Trillium Book Award for English Poetry in 2020.
Aaron Kreuter is a Canadian writer based in Toronto, Ontario.