In the generous spirit of the season, we’re happy to announce that this year’s Robin Blaser Poetry Award and $1000 prize will be shared by two contestants: Bardia Sinaee and Conyer Clayton.

BARDIA SINAEE was born in Tehran, Iran and currently lives in Toronto. His poems have appeared in magazines across Canada and in several editions of Best Canadian Poetry in English. His first collection, Intruder, is forthcoming from Anansi in spring 2021.

CONYER CLAYTON is an Ottawa based artist who aims to live with compassion, gratitude, and awe. Her most recent chapbooks are Trust Only the Beasts in the Water (above/ground press, 2019), / (post ghost press, 2019), Undergrowth (bird, buried press, 2018) and Mitosis (In/Words Magazine and Press, 2018). Her debut full length collection of poetry, We Shed Our Skin Like Dynamite, is forthcoming Spring 2020 with Guernica Editions.

Look forward to reading the winning entries in our upcoming Spring Issue!

Once again, we’d like to thank all the contestants for their highly compelling entries, as well as our judge, Jen Currin for the time and care put into selecting our winners.