Poetry collections on spirituality, war make Griffin Prize long list

TORONTO — A collection of poetry about the horrors of the war in Ukraine and the spiritual words of a celebrated Mexican poet are among the works on this year’s long list for the Griffin Poetry Prize.

A Crash Course in Molotov Cocktails by Halyna Kruk, translated from Ukrainian by Amelia M. Glaser and Yuliya Ilchuk, is among the 10 books of poetry written in, or translated into, English.

Also longlisted is Self-Portrait in the Zone of Silence by Homero Aridjis, translated from Spanish by George McWhirter, a Belfast-born Canadian writer who served as Vancouver’s first poet laureate.

Another Canadian name on the long list is Montrealbased writer Emilie Moorhouse, who translated from French an Egyptian-French poet’s collection, Emerald Wounds: Selected Poems of Joyce Mansour.

Five shortlisted books will be announced April 17 and the winner will be crowned at the Griffin Poetry Prize Readings, held in Toronto on June 5.

The winner will receive $130,000 while the other shortlisted finalists will each get $10,000.

Most of the longlisted works are by U.S. poets, including To 2040 by Jorie Graham, Door by Ann Lauterbach, The Lights, by Ben Lerner, And And And by Cole Swensen and perennial fashion presence falling by Fred Moten.

RóĂycki, The judges also listed To the Letter, by Tomasz translated from Polish by Mira Rosenthal, and School of Instructions by Jamaican poet Ishion Hutchinson.

The three judges for the international prize said they considered 592 books of poetry — nearly 50 of them translations — submitted from 14 countries. One of the judges is Canadian poet Albert F. Moritz.