Alycia Pirmohamed wins 2019 CBC Poetry Prize

Alycia Pirmohamed from Calgary has won the 2019 CBC Poetry Prize for her collection of poems,Love Poem with Elk and Punctuation, Prairie Storm and Tasbih.

Pirmohamed will receive$6,000 from theCanada Council for the Arts, attend a two-week writing residency at theBanff Centre for Arts and Creativityand have herwork published onCBC Books.

Love Poem with Elk and Punctuation, Prairie Storm and Tasbihwas selected by the jury, comprised of writersLynn Crosbie, Olive Senior and Billy-Ray Belcourt.

• How Alycia Pirmohamed wrote the poems that won the 2019 CBC Poetry Prize

"Here is a poet who 'pours and pours'the whole world inside a single sentence. A poet who puts a sentence under a sentence to build a world," the jury said in a statement."There is a biographical depth in Love Poem with Elk and Punctuation, Prairie Storm and Tasbih that gives expression to a narrative yearning that is immediately felt so much so that to read on is to get to the heart of the lyric mode. There is an unwavering confidence here, a quiet playfulness, and an ear for unpredictable images and symbols, all of which suggest to us that this is a poet to watch, from whom we may learn, in their diction, 'how to symmetry, how to pray.'"

• Read Love Poem with Elk and Punctuation, Prairie Storm and Tasbih

Pirmohamed's poetry was selected frommore than 2,500 English-language submissions.

The other finalists wereFaith Arkorful for Family Affair, Stephanie Bolsterfor Shelter Object, Catherine Greenwood for The Grolar Bear's Ballad, Erin Soros for You Left Something, Sarah Tsiangfor 12 and Cara Waterfallfor Caribou in the Anthropocene.

The finalists will each receive$1,000 from theCanada Council for the Artsand havetheir work published onCBC Books.

The jury selected the finalists and the winner from a longlist of 33poems. A team of writers and editors from across Canada compiled the list.

Maud EvelynefromTmiscouata-sur-le-Lac, Que., is the winner of theFrench-language grand prize,Prix de posie Radio-Canada, for her poemJ'ai vu ma mre en rve.

• The First Page student writing challenge is open for submissions!

TheCBC Literary Prizes have been recognizing Canadian writers since 1979. Past winners include Michael Ondaatje, Carol Shields, Michael Winter and Frances Itani.

• Check out the past CBC Literary Prizes winners

Interested in enteringthe CBC Literary Prizes? The 2020CBCNonfiction Prizewill open in January 2020.The 2021CBCShort Story Prizewill open in September 2020.