The best Canadian poetry of 2017

What were the best books published this year? Here areCBC Books' picks for thetop 10 Canadian poetry collections of 2017.

ThisWound is a World by Billy-Ray Belcourt

Rhodes Scholar and PhD student Billy-Ray Belcourthails from DriftpileCree Nation in Alberta. His debut collection of poetry,This Wound is a World,merges the personal with the academic, envisioning, in his own words, a "decolonialkind of heaven that is searchable, findable." It ismemoiristicin approach,perspicuous in style and exacting in its determination to upend genre and form.

• Billy-Ray Belcourt on writing an 'instruction manual for a queer Indigenous future'

How to Dance in this Rarefied Air by Rienzi Crusz

RienziCrusz, who died in 2017, was an underrated master of the poetic form. Cruszwas originally from Sri Lanka and immigrated to Canada in the 1960s; with a style best described as romantic and keenly self-aware,How to Dance in this Rarefied Air examines the immigrant experience in Canada, and, by extension, the human experience,with an unabashed andpostmodernflair and clarity.

• 7 Canadian books to read if you love the poetry of Alden Nowlan

The Corpses of the Future by Lynn Crosbie

WithLynn Crosbie'slatest poetry collection,The Corpses of the Future, the poet, novelist and journalist examines her close relationship with her father and her emotional observationof his battle with post-stroke blindness and dementia. At 140 pages, the collection reads as confessional, dealing with grief, love, hope and hopelessness.

• How writing helped Lynn Crosbie deal with her father's dementia

The Celery Forest by Catherine Graham

The Celery Forestis afantastical world with strange creatures and disorienting sights. Within the poetry collection's magicalimagery is the examination of Catherine Graham's recent bout with breast cancer; the novelist and poet uses sensual language and style that peers into the duality of beauty and horror.

Heart Residence by Dennis Lee

Considered a valued veteran in the Canadian literary scene, Dennis Lee showcases over 50 years of published poetry with latest collection Heart Residence. The career-spanning volume reveals the depth and breadthof his work from vibrant children's poemsto more ruminative verse targetedto a mature audience.

• A feature interview with Canadian poet Dennis Lee

Voodoo Hypothesis by Canisia Lubrin

Voodoo Hypothesisdraws in elements ofpop culture, science, pseudo-science and news about race and identity to recentre the definition of being a Black individual in today's world. Leaning in on magical imagery,Canisia Lubrin's poetry collectionis the result of her Caribbean upbringing, listening to fantastic tales and learning the power of language on her grandmother's lap.

• Canisia Lubrin evokes the folkloric magic of St. Lucia in a poetic takedown of contemporary racism

My Ariel by Sina Queyras

WithMy Ariel, Montreal poet SinaQueryastakes an analytical and poeticlook at Sylvia Plath'sAriel.As a poem-by-poem engagement withAriel and the mythology surrounding it the book examines the iconic text, and, by extension, cultural norms and attitudes.

a place called No Homeland by Kai Cheng Thom

Kai Cheng Thom is a writer andperformer, and has a master's degree in social work. Her collection of poems,a place called No Homeland,is an intimate journey through topics like gender, race and sexuality. Many of the poems emerge from her story of navigating identity as a Chinese Canadian transgender woman.

• How Kai Cheng Thom finds community through her poetry

Admission Requirements by Phoebe Wang

The poems that make up Admission Requirements are ambitious in scope in anattempt to discover what is required of us when we cut across our material and psychic geographies.Wang, who made the CBC Poetry Prize longlist in 2016, explores stories of the land and searches for a secure sense of belonging. In her own words, she describes the process behind creating her first collection.

• Why Phoebe Wang explores Canada's landscape in her poetry

full-metal indigiqueer by Joshua Whitehead

Joshua Whiteheadis an Oji-Cree, two-spirit poet from Peguis First Nation.His book,full-metalindigiqueer, is complex yet clear in scope as it focuses on a hybridized Indigiqueer Trickster character named Zoa who brings together the organic (the protozoan) and the technologic (the binaric) in order to re-beautify and re-member queer Indigeneity. It is a collection of experimentalpoems that aim to provoke discussion and debate.

• Why Joshua Whitehead wants to recentre Indigenous characters with his cyber-punk infused poetry