Griffin Lifetime Recognition goes to Raul Zurita, readings June 3 at Koerner Hall - has anyone done this

[Aaron]

Griffin Poetry Prize announced Raul Zurita as the 2026 Lifetime Recognition Award recipient on May 6th. He will read with his translator Anna Deeny Morales at Koerner Hall on June 3rd, with a live performance from Eve Egoyan on piano and filmmakers Lior Shamriz and Chloe Griffin paying tribute throughout the evening.

Zurita is one of the most singular voices to come out of late twentieth century Latin American poetry. The work he did during Pinochet's regime, including the skywriting pieces over New York in 1982 and the bulldozer poems carved into the Atacama desert, sits in a category most poets are not even trying to access. The decision to pair him with Egoyan's piano work is inspired given how much of his writing wants to escape the page entirely.

The shortlist for the main prize is also stacked. Gbenga Adesina, Daniel Borzutzky, Alec Schumacher, Elvira Hernandez, Aracelis Girmay, Ange Mlinko and Kevin Young, with the Canadian First Book winner being announced May 20th. Worth a trip to Toronto if you can swing it

Announcing the 2026 Lifetime Recognition Award - Griffin Poetry Prizegriffinpoetryprize.com

[Cheeky Shaun]

Zurita is exactly the kind of poet the Griffin should be honouring, glad they got there

[Clever Erin]

If you have not read Purgatorio go get it tonight, it will rearrange your brain

[Ruby92]

Anna Deeny Morales is the right translator for this, her work on Inri is what I always come back to

[Megan95]

The Atacama desert pieces are the thing that made me realise poetry could exist outside the book object entirely

[ReacherBadger]

Pairing him with Eve Egoyan is a brilliant call, her piano work has that same patient quality his lines do

[Taker92]

The shortlist is stacked too, Aracelis Girmay alone would carry most prize lists

[QuietNomad]

Borzutzky winning a Griffin in 2016 was one of the more interesting jury decisions of the decade, curious if he picks up another

[DarkLantern]

Anyone going to be at Koerner on the 3rd

[Blake_73]

I will be there, second time seeing Zurita read live and the first time absolutely flattened me

[Sequence19]

Skywriting poems are still the bar for what an ambitious experimental poet can attempt