“And And And” by Cole Swensen, a collection published by Free Poetry, was nominated for the prestigious Griffin Prize. Founded in 2005 by Professor Martin Corless-Smith, who will serve as the next Director of the Boise State Creative Writing MFA Program, Free Poetry publishes poetry, essays and translations by new and established poets from around the world. “Free Poetry is delighted that one of its books, which was subsequently taken up by Shearsman Books (UK), has been short-listed for the prestigious Griffin Poetry Prize,” Professor Corless-Smith said. “The Griffin Poetry prize is one of, if not the biggest international Poetry prizes there is. Cole is a terrific poet, critic, translator and teacher. This is one of my favourite books of hers, which is saying a lot for someone of her talent and productivity. Well done Cole!!!”
To read more about Cole Swensen’s book, please visit the Free Poetry webpage here.
About the Griffin Poetry Prize
Founded in April 2000 by Margaret Atwood, Robert Hass, Michael Ondaatje, Robin Robertson, David Young, and Scott Griffin, the annual Griffin Poetry Prize awards C$130,000 to the winner, “making it the world’s largest international prize for a single book of poetry written in, or translated into English,” according to their website. “Poetry is the essence of language, and language covers the full range of experience and emotion that distinguishes us as human beings,” writes Scott Griffin on the Prize’s website. “The objective of the prize is to raise the profile of poets and poetry in Canada, and internationally, for works written in, or translated into, English.”
To learn more about the Griffin Poetry Prize, you can visit their website here.
About Free Poetry
Founded in 2005 by Professor Martin Corless-Smith, Free Poetry publishes poetry, essays and translations by new and established poets from around the world. Available free of charge and without copyright, all Free Poetry chapbooks may be photocopied or downloaded to distribute them ad infinitum. Funded by the College of Arts and Sciences, Free Poetry retains a staff of MFA poetry professors and current MFA poetry students.
To learn more about Free Poetry, you can visit their website here.
About Cole Swensen
The author of 17 collections of poetry, Cole Swensen also penned a collection of critical essays, “Noise That Stays Noise,” and, most recently, “Art in Time,” a collection of hybrid poetry/lyric-essay works on innovative landscape art. Her work won the Iowa Poetry Prize, the SF State Poetry Center Book Award, and the National Poetry Series. A finalist twice for the LA Times Book Award and once for the National Book Award, Swensen translated contemporary French poetry, prose, and art criticism, and she won the PEN USA Award in Literary Translation. She divides her time between the US and France.