National Animal, Derek Webster’s second book of poetry, inhabits a wider public space than his acclaimed debut Mockingbird. In poems that extend beyond the biographical toward the political, Webster’s quiet, sharp-eyed narrator—a man “tripping / my way forward, trying to lead my own life”—watches history being erased in favour of more socially palatable ideas and comforting self-portraits. Uncompromising and substantial, National Animal explores our “civic moment” where "birds sing oblivion / estranged from all things," and meditates, in a final image-rich sequence, on our place in a science-based cosmos.

Entries juried by Cameron Awkward-Rich, Martin Breul, Heather Christle, Nabina Das, Liz Howard, Joanne Limburg, Conor O’Callaghan, Tanure Ojaide, Michael Prior, Medrie Purdham, Mark Tredinnick, and Rhian Williams

Finalists judged by Lorna Goodison

Founded in 2010, the Montreal International Poetry Prize has established itself as a major event in contemporary poetry, both in Canada and around the world. The 2022 anthology continues the work of its predecessors, building the community of contemporary poetry on the twin principles of aesthetics and accessibility. Under this banner – poetry is for everyone – these poems speak of historic desolation and everyday bravery. Their images grip and hold. Here common experience crystallizes into stanzaic form, lending dignity to life in a ravaged world; here poetry melts into a rising, increasingly acidic ocean of prose that weeps for a prior earth.

From thousands of entries, these sixty poems were chosen for the virtue of their speaking to the reader, artfully and clearly. Lorna Goodison, winner of the Queen’s Gold Medal for Poetry, then judged the finalists, selecting the one poem – included here – to take the $20,000 prize. From Canada, Australia, the Caribbean, India, Ireland, New Zealand, Romania, Tunisia, the United Kingdom, the United States, and elsewhere, these lyrics voice a reality that you will recognize as strangely yours.

An engrossing punk-rock novel about teenage daydreams and sibling dynamics

Teenage brothers Hombre and Transformer spend their days locked up in their suburban Montreal bedroom, writing songs and dreaming of stardom. Hombre, the younger one, is quiet, contemplative, and talented, a poet in the making. His older brother Transformer is stubborn, domineering, and secretly struggling with mental health issues. Their sequestered world is broken open one summer when their mother hires Spit, a girl from the local guitar shop, to help the boys improve their modest skills. But these good intentions set off a chain reaction with tragic consequences.

Set in the early 80s, in a local music scene brimming with post-punk ethos and a disdain for classic rock, Because is a wry and charming depiction of a sibling relationship founded on feverish angst, unspoken admiration, jealousy, and the pursuit of the greatest song they can write from their own room.