TORONTO – Toronto’s Ken Babstock and Britain’s David Harsent have each won $65,000 Griffin poetry prizes.
Billed the world’s richest poetry prize, the Griffin was handed out Thursday at a gala attended by literary luminaries including Margaret Atwood, Michael Ondaatje and Nobel Prize winner Seamus Heaney.
Prizes are given to a Canadian poet and an international one.
Babstock won for “Methodist Hatchet” (House of Anansi Press), which is also shortlisted for the upcoming Trillium Book Award.
Harsent took the prize for “Night” (Faber and Faber), the follow-up to “Legion,” which won the Forward Prize in 2005 and was shortlisted for both the Whitbread Award and the T. S. Eliot Prize.
Each finalist also receives $10,000 for participating in Wednesday evening’s readings.
This is the 12th year for the award, which honours one Canadian and one international poet.
The three-member judging panel – Heather McHugh, David O’Meara, and Fiona Sampson – read 481 books of poetry, from 37 countries, including 19 translations.
Toronto businessman Scott Griffin created the honour along with trustees including Atwood and Ondaatje.
Last year’s winners were Toronto poet Dionne Brand and American poet Gjertrud Schnackenberg.
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