Saskatoon poet wins $50K prize

Saskatoon poet Sylvia Legris is one of the winners of Canada's richest poetry prize.

Legris, along with Barbadian-born Kamau Brathwaite were named winners of the Griffin Poetry Prize in Toronto Thursday night.

Each year, prize organizers present $50,000 each to a Canadian and an international poet.

Legris, who is originally from Winnipeg, won the Canadian honour for Nerve Squall, her third book of poetry.

"It's remarkable just being in your company and meeting all of you," she said as she accepted the prize at the swanky Griffin gala.

"This is terrifying, but it's such an honour."

Legris won over fellow Canadian poets Phil Hall and Erin Moure.

Brathwaite is a poet, performer and literature professor at New York University.

"It's so wonderful that this is being done for poetry," he told CBC News.

"You know, this is like a carnival," he added, describing the gala's luxurious Asian-inspired theme.

He was honoured for his poetry book Born to Slow Horses, which beat other international finalists Michael Palmer of the U.S., Durs Grunbein of Germany and his English translater Michael Hoffman, and Iraq's Dunya Mikhail and her English translator Elizabeth Winslow.

Toronto auto parts magnate Scott Griffin created the award in 2000, with the help of such Canadian literary figures as writer Michael Ondaatje and playwright David Young.

The Griffin Prize has grown in prominence and has permeated into poetry communities around the world for its celebration of the genre.

"It's great," Ondaatje said. "So many good poets are suddenly recognized."

The international judging panel of poets Lavinia Greenlaw, Lisa Robertson and Eliot Weinberger chose Legris and Brathwaite from a record 441 submissions this year.

Though most of the international submissions originate from Canada, other Commonwealth nations and the U.S., work was also submitted from the Caribbean and countries such as Slovenia, South Korea and Brazil, organizers said.