37 Canadian poetry collections to watch for in fall 2020

Here are the works of Canadian poetry we can't wait to read this season.

Saturn Peach by Lily Wang

In Saturn Peach, Lily Wang explores the strangeness of our relationship to technology. These poems evoke the challenges, connection and disconnection that come from living in a world where our dependency on technology grows every day.

When you can read it: Aug. 1, 2020

Wang is a poet from Toronto. She is the founder and editor of the literary magazineHalf a Grapefruit. Saturn Peach is her first poetry collection.

Cephalopography 2.0 by Rasiqra Revulva

Cephalopography2.0uses traditional and modern poetic forms to explore humanidentity and experiencefromthe lens of cephalopods.Rasiqra Revulva's poems show howcephalopods and humans are linked in ways beyond the ecosystems we inhabit.

When you can read it: Aug. 11, 2020

Revulvais a queer writer, editor and half of the experimental electronic duoThe Databats.She is an editor of the climate crisis anthologyWatch Your Head: A Call to Actionand has written two poetry chapbooks.

Moving to Climate Change Hours by Ross Belot

Moving to Climate Change Hourslooks at the challenges humanityhas created for ourselves through climate change. These poems contemplateour reliance on fossil fuels and imagines the end of the oil and gas industry. The book includes the poem that was shortlisted for the 2016CBC Poetry Prize, The Edge of Everything.

When you can read it: Aug. 11, 2020

• Past CBC Poetry Prize finalist Ross Belot has some writing advice for you

Ross Belot is a poet, photographer, documentary filmmaker and columnist who lives in Hamilton, Ont. He was a finalist for the 2016CBC Poetry Prize.He is also the author of the poetry collectionSwimming In The Dark.

The Hammer of Witches by Kelly Rose Pflug-Back

The Hammer of Witchesis a poetry collection that reads like a series of modern fables.It blends ancient folklore and magic with pressing contemporary questions to explore the nature of fear, beauty and reality.

When you can read it: Aug. 21, 2020

Kelly Rose Pflug-Back is a fiction writer and poet from Toronto.The Hammer of Witchesis her first book.

Niagara & Government by Phil Hall

Niagara & GovernmentisPhil Hall's 17th poetry collection. It isa series of long sequential poems that explore what challenges us and makes us, with stories of poetry, folk art, estranged sisters and more.

When you can read it: Aug. 22, 2020

• Phil Hall on literary house parties and his fantasy job

Hall is a poet from Toronto. His collection Killdeer won the2011 Governor General's Literary Award forpoetryand the 2012 Trillium Book Award. It was also shortlisted for the 2012 Griffin Poetry Prize. His other collections includeTrouble Sleeping, An Oak Hunch,The Small Nouns Crying FaithandNotes from Gethsemani.

eat salt | gaze at the ocean by Junie Dsil

eat salt | gaze at the oceanis a poetry collection that uses the motif of the Haitian zombie to explore Black sovereignty and Haitian sovereignty, alongside sharingJunie Dsil's own story of growing up in Canada as the daughter of Haitian immigrants.

When you can read it: Sept. 1, 2020

Dsilis a poet of Haitian descent who was born in Montreal, raised in Winnipeg and now lives in British Columbia. Her work has appeared inRoom and Prism.eat salt | gaze at the oceanis her first book.

Shared Universe by Paul Vermeersch

Shared Universebrings together select poemsby Paul Vermeersch fromthe past 25 years with new works. The poems in this collection are arranged by "prophecy and mythos" and contemplate the past, present and future.

When you can read it: Sept. 1, 2020

• Why Paul Vermeersch thinks of poetry as a form of spell-casting and self defence

Vermeerschis a poet, artist and editor from Toronto. He currently teaches at Sheridan College. His other poetry collections include The Reinvention of the Human Hand andSelf-Defence for the Brave and Happy.

And Yet by John Steffler

And Yetis a collection of poems that encourages readers to think about our connection to the physical, natural worldand asks us to more deeply connect with it. They also reflect on our relationship to technology and how the twotechnology and nature are often at odds in contemporary life.

When you can read it: Sept. 1, 2020

John Steffleris a poet and novelist from Toronto. He was the Canadian parliamentary laureate from 2006 to 2008. His other poetry collectionsincludeThat Night We Were Ravenous,The Wreckage of PlayandThe Grey Islands.His novel,The Afterlife of George Cartwright,was shortlisted for the 1992 Governor General's Literary Award for fiction.

Text Messages by Yassin Alsalman

Yassin"Narcy"Alsalmanis a musician and multimedia artist.Text Messages, his first poetry collection, brings together poetry, rap, fiction and illustrations. It is a "survival guide" to our hyper-technological and fast-paced world.

When you can read it: Oct. 10, 2020

• Watch Montreal rapper Narcy's set at the 2019 CBC Music Festival

Alsalman isan Iraqi Canadian musician, director, writer and actor from Montreal. Heperforms music under the name "Narcy," and has released severalalbums. He is also the author of the bookDiatribes of a Dying Tribe.

ZOM-FAMby Kama La Mackerel

InZOM-FAM,Kama La Mackereltells a coming-of-age story of a child growing up in the 1980s and 1990s on the island ofMauritius. This child doesn't conform to a specific gender and searches for a vocabulary and a narrative that includes and understands them.This poetry collection tells a new story of Mauritius's history, one that includes and celebrates the queer and trans stories that helped shape the island's history.

When you can read it: Sept. 10, 2020

• 9 artists who are making a difference

La Mackerelis aMauritianartist, educator, poet and translator from Montreal. CBC Arts named themone of nine artists who were making a difference in Canada in 2016.They have translated several Canadian works from English into French, including I'm Afraid of Men by Vivek Shraya.ZOM-FAMis their first book.

Everything You Hold Dear by Jamie Sharpe

Jamie Sharpe's poetry collectionEverything You Hold Dearreflects on the years he spent travelling throughout British Columbia and Yukon. The collection blends fact and fiction to create an ode to a once nomadic life and to poetry itself.

When you can read it: Sept. 15, 2020

Sharpeis a poet from British Columbia. His other collections includeAnimal Husbandry Today,Cut-up ApologeticandDazzle Ships.

Nothing You Can Carry by Susan Alexander

Nothing You Can Carryis a poetry collection by B.C. poet Susan Alexanderthat looks at the natural world, our relationship toit andhow we have slowly destroyed it through industrialization. It contemplates how we can all move forward during this time of climate crisis.Nothing You Can Carryincludes the poem that was longlisted for the 2018 CBC Poetry Prize, Late, Again.

When you can read it: Sept. 15, 2020

Alexanderis a poet from British Columbia. Herwork has been featuredon the bus in Vancouver's Poetry in Transit. She won the2016 GrainMagazine's poetry prize and the 2015 Vancouver Writers' Festival contest. She waslonglistedfor the 2018CBC Poetry Prize.

No Grave for This Place by Judy Quinn, translated by Donald Winkler

No Grave for This Placeis a darkly comic tribute toAuberivire, the QuebecCity neighbourhood where poet Judy Quinn grew up. The French edition ofNo Grave for This Place was a finalist for the Governor General's Literary Award for poetry.

When you can read it: Sept. 15, 2020

• Donald Winkler runs for cover after submitting the first draft of a translation

Judy Quinn is a poet, writer and editor from Quebec. She has won thePrix littraires Radio-Canada and thePrix Flix-Antoine-Savard.She has authored four poetry collections.

Donald Winkler is a filmmaker and translator from Montreal. He won the Governor General's Literary Award for French-to-English translation forThe Lyric Generation: The Life and Times of the Baby-BoomersbyFranois Ricard, Partita for Glenn Gouldby Georges Leroux andThe Major VerbsbyPierre Nepveu. Two books translated by him have been finalists for the Scotiabank Giller Prize:A Secret Between UsbyDaniel Poliquin in 2007 andArvidabySamuel Archibaldin 2015.

Orrery by Donna Kane

Orreryis a poetry collection inspired by Pioneer 10, the American space probed launched in 1972 to study the moons of Jupiter. In 2003, the probe was retired. NASA stopped sending signals to it, and it was left to wander into deep space. Donna Kane uses the probe and its new infinite course to examine materiality, empathy and transformation.

When you can read it: Sept. 19, 2020

Kane is a poet from British Columbia. She has published threepoetry collections, the others are calledSomewhere, a FireandErratic.

Black Matters by Afua Cooper & Wilfried Raussert

Poet Afua Cooper and photographerWilfried Raussertcollaborated onBlack Matters, which explores the everyday experience of what it's like to be Black in Canada. Each of Raussert's photographs has a companion poem written by Cooper.

When you can read it: Oct. 15, 2020

• Afua Cooper talks about what it's like to be Black in Canada

Cooper is the poet laureate of Halifax. She's also a historian and teacher. She is the author of five books of poetry and two novels, including The Hanging of Angelique.

Raussert is a Canadian photographer, artist and academic who currently teaches in Germany. He has authored or edited more than 20 scholarly books.

TreeTalkby Ariel Gordon

In the summer of 2017, Ariel Gordon spent two days on a patio in downtown Winnipeg, writing poetry she hung on a tree. She invited people who passed by to participate in her project. When the two days were over, 234 poems hung from the tree.TreeTalkbrings these poems together into a single long poem that questions our relationship to nature and explores what it means to live in a city and in nature at the same time.

When you can read it: Sept. 21, 2020

• 'We're a treed city': Winnipegger explores relationship with trees in new book

Gordon is a poet from Winnipeg. She is also the author of the nonfiction bookTreed and was a co-editor on the anthology Gush.

Bittersweet byNatasha Ramoutar

Bittersweet is a poetry collection that uses photographs, maps and language to reconstruct the history of Scarborough, Ont., the city where Indo-GuyanesepoetNatasha Ramoutargrew up. It explores the themes of identity, storyand what getshidden in the narrative that becomes the historical record.

When you can read it: Sept. 22, 2020

Ramoutar is an Indo-Guyanese writer who lives in Scarborough, Ont. She used to be a producer for CBC Music and currently works at the Festival of Literary Diversity (FOLD). Bittersweet is her first book.

Burning Sugar by Cicely Belle Blain

Burning Sugaris a poetry collection that explores Black identity, history and the impact of colonizationon Black bodies.Burning Sugarilluminates how systems, society and culture are all structured to reinforce racism. But it also explores and celebrates the nuance and joy in life.

When you can read it: Sept. 29, 2020

Cicely Belle Blain is a poet and activist from British Columbia. They foundedBlack Lives Matter Vancouver. CBCRadio named them one of 150 Black women and non-binary people making change across Canada in 2018.Burning Sugar is their first book.

Render by Sachiko Murakami

Renderis a collection of poems by Toronto poet Sachiko Murakami that explore addiction, recovery and trauma through a series of dreamscapes.

When you can read it: Sept. 29, 2020

Murakamiis apoet and editor from Toronto. Her other collections includeThe Invisibility Exhibit, Rebuild and Get Me Out of Here.

I Will Be Corrupted by Joseph A.Dandurand

I Will Be Corruptedis a poetry collection that tells the story of aKwantlen man who has the gift of healing, but is currently a drug addict living in Vancouver's downtown Eastside. It is through poetry that he reclaims his powers, finds hope and changes his life.

When you can read it: Oct. 1, 2020

• Why Joseph Dandurand wanted to tell his story of survival through poetry

Joseph A. Dandurandis a poet from the Kwantlen First Nation. His other collections includeThe RumourandSH:LAM (The Doctor).He was theVancouver Public Library's 2019 Indigenous storyteller in residence.

I Will Be Corruptedisone of two books byDuandurand on this list. The other isThe East Side of It All.

Knot Body by Eli Tareq El Bechelany-Lynch

Knot Bodyis a poetry collectionby queer mixed race Arab poet Eli TareqEl Bechelany-Lynch that confronts racism, capitalism, ableism, transphobia and fatphobia. It's about the limits we have in and on our bodies and how those limits define how we connect with the world and how we can break these limits down to remake a more inclusive world.

When you can read it: Oct. 1, 2020

Bechelany-Lynch is a poetfrom Montreal. Their work has appeared inThe Best Canadian Poetry,The Puritanand The New Quarterly. They were longlisted for the 2019 CBC Poetry Prize forNancy Ajram Made Me Gay.

The Cyborg Anthology by Lindsay B-e

The Cyborg Anthologyis an original poetry collection that contemplates the relationship between humans and technology and art.It imagines a future where humans once lived in harmony with robots and cyborgs, but a disaster destroyed most artificial life. The collection is organized like an anthology, reflecting on cyborgpolitics, culture and poetry and imagines what the next generation of cyborg poets will create.

When you can read it: Oct. 1, 2020

Lindsay B-eis a writer and filmmaker from Saskatchewan who now lives in Toronto.The Cyborg Anthologyis their first book.

Word Problems by Ian Williams

Word Problemsis the latest poetry collection by Scotiabank Giller Prize-winning writer Ian Williams.The collection uses unusual tools, such as math and grammar totackleissues facing contemporary society, such as racial inequality, alongside more universal problems, like how people connect to and relate to each other.

When you can read it: Oct. 6, 2020

• Ian Williams explores race, class and identity in his debut novel,Reproduction

Williams is a poet, novelist and professor from Brampton, Ont., who is currently teaching at the University of British Columbia. His debut novel Reproductionwon the 2019 Scotiabank Giller Prize. He is also the author of the poetry collection Personals, which was a finalist for the 2013 Griffin Poetry Prize.

Swivelmount by Ken Babstock

Swivelmountis the latestpoetry collection by acclaimed poet Ken Babstock. The poems inSwivelmountexplore mourning, faith and uncertainty with compassion and dark humour.

When you can read it: Oct. 6, 2020

Babstockis a poet from Newfoundland who now lives in Toronto. His collectionMethodist Hatchetwon the 2011 Griffin Poetry Prize. His other collections include Mean, Days Into Flatspinand Airstream Land Yacht. He received the 2014Latner Writer's Trust Poetry Prize, which recognizes a Canadian poet in mid-career.

it was never going to be okay by jaye simpson

it was never going to be okayis a collection of poems that explores intergenerational trauma, Indigeneity andqueernessbyOji-Cree non binary trans woman writer jaye simpson.

When you can read it: Oct. 6, 2020

• Indigenous youth say care system repeats horrors of the past

simpson is an Oji-Cree non binary trans woman writer who lives in Vancouver. Their work has been featured in This Magazine, Prism International and Room.it was never going to be okayis their first book.

Phillisby Alison Clarke

Phillis Wheatley was the first African American to publish a book of poetry whenPoems on Various Subjects, Religious and Moral was released in 1773. Wheatley was a slave whenthebook came out. It would become a success internationally. InPhillis, Alison Clarke tells Wheatley's story, through a combination of poetry and prose.

When you can read it: Oct. 15, 2020

Clarke is a poet and children's author from Edmonton.Phillisis her first book.

The East Side of It All by Joseph A. Dandurand

Joseph A.Dandurandused to be a druguser who lived in Vancouver's DowntownEastside. He got out and began to heal by reconnecting with his family, the natural world and with hisKwantlenculture and storytelling.The East Side of It Allis a collection of poems that shares this journey.

When you can read it: Oct. 17, 2020

• Meet Joseph A. Dandurand, Vancouver Public Library's 2019 Indigenous storyteller in residence

Dandurandis a poet from the Kwantlen First Nation. His other collections includeThe RumourandSH:LAM (The Doctor).He was theVancouver Public Library's 2019 Indigenous storyteller in residence.

The East Side of It Allis one of two books byDuandurand on this list. The other is I Will Be Corrupted.

Finish this Sentence by Leslie Roach

Finish this Sentence, the first poetry collectionby Leslie Roach, is about her personal experiences with racism and the anger and anxiety it ignites within.

When you can read it: Oct. 20, 2020

Roach is a poet and lawyer from Montreal who currently lives in Ottawa, where she works for the parliament of Canada.Finish this Sentenceis her first book.

Check by Sarah Tolmie

Checkis the latest poetry collection from Griffin Poetry Prize finalist Sarah Tolmie.Checkis a sharp and satirical look at confirmation bias, and how we fight for the things we believe to be true and use hate and intolerance to shut down ideas and people who may disagree.

When you can read it: Oct. 22, 2020

• Sarah Tolmie shares the many reasons she loves John Donne

Tolmie is a professor, novelist and poet based in Waterloo, Ont. Her poetry collectionThe Art of Dyingwasshortlisted for the2019 Griffin Poetry Prize. She is also the author of the collectionTrio.

Music at the Heart of Thinking by FredWah

Music at the Heart of Thinkingis a poetry collection that examines language as the true practice of thought and improvisation as a tool that notates thinking. The collection is a response to readings of contemporary texts, art and ideas produced over the past 40 years. The poems are modelled after the long poem genre of the 1980s and a resistance to closure and containment of meaning.

When you can read it: Oct. 27, 2020

Fred Wah is a Canadian poet, novelist, scholar and former Canadian parliamentary poet laureate. He received the Governor General's Literary Award forpoetry for his 1985 bookWaiting for Saskatchewan.

mahikan ka onot by Duncan Mercredi

mahikan ka onotis a comprehensive collection of poems from influentialCree-Mtispoet Duncan Mercredi. It spans his career from 1991 to present day and includes previously unpublished works. Collectively, the poems reflect ongenerations of trauma inflicted by colonialism and contemporary Indigenous life.

When you can read it: Oct. 27, 2020

Mercredi is aCree-Mtispoet and storyteller. He is currently Winnipeg's poet laureate.

Because We Love, We Cry by Sheree Fitch

Because We Love, We Cryis a poem Nova Scotia poet and children's book writer Sheree Fitch wrote in the aftermath of the mass shooting in N.S. on April 20, 2020. Fitch shared the poem on social media, where it went viral. It was read on the news, in Canadian parliamentand during a televised vigil for the victims. The poemis now available as a gift book.

When you can read it: Oct. 30, 2020

• Sheree Fitch's latest book aimed at helping people grieve

Fitch is a Nova Scotia-based poet and novelist. She is the author of several children's books, includingMabelMurple, and young adult novels, likeThe Gravesavers. She has also authored poetry books, including the 1993 collectionIn This House AreMany Women,and novels for adults, includingKiss the Joy as it Flies. Fitchreceived the Vicky Metcalf Award for Literature for Young People in 2000.

Festival of All Souls by Jean Eng

Festival of All Souls, the first poetry collection from writer and artist Jean Eng, explores what it means to be Asian in Canada, and how she must straddle two cultures. The title refers to an Asian ceremony where families pay respects to their ancestors.

When you can read it: Oct. 30, 2020

Engis a writer and visual artist from Toronto. Her poetry has appeared inThe Dalhousie Review,Grain, The New Quarterlyand Room.

I place you into the fire by Rebecca Thomas

I place you into the fireis the first collection from former Nova Scotia poet laureateRebecca Thomas.I place you into the fireexplores what it means to be a second-generation residential school survivor and is a call for Indigenous justice and empathy.

When you can read it: Oct. 31, 2020

• Rebecca Thomas shares her book recommendations

Thomas is aMi'kmawwriter living in Nova Scotia. She was the Halifax poet laureate from 2016 to 2018. She is also the author of thechildren's book I'm Finding My Talk, which is a poem responding to theiconicRita Joe poem I Lost My Talk.

Dearly by Margaret Atwood

Dearlyis Margaret Atwood's first poetry collection in over a decade. The collectiongathers poems about "absences and endings, aging and retrospection... gifts and renewals" and draws from the natural and supernatural world.

When you can read it: Nov. 10, 2020

• Atwood at 80: A timeline of the iconic Canadian writer's life

Atwood is the celebrated Canadian writer who has published fiction, nonfiction,poetry andcomics. Her acclaimed books include the novelsThe Handmaid's Tale,Alias Grace,Oryx and CrakeandThe Edible Woman. She has won several awards for her work including the Governor General's Literary Award, the Scotiabank Giller Prize andthe Booker Prize. Her other poetry collections includeThe Circle Game,The Journalsof Susanna Moodie,Power Politicsin 1971andThe Door.

home body by Rupi Kaur

home body is the third collection from bestselling poet Rupi Kaur.home body, which will also feature illustrations by Kaur,will explore the concept of self and reflect on home, mental health, love and acceptance.

When you can read it: Nov. 17, 2020

• When COVID-19 hit, bestselling poet Rupi Kaur had writer's block so she started teaching on Instagram

Kaur is a poet and artist from Brampton, Ont. She currently has more than 4 million Instagram followers. Atthe beginning of 2020,she was named the writer of the decade by U.S. publication The New Republic.Her other poetry collections aremilk and honeyandthe sun and her flowers,both made theNew York Times bestseller list.

This Radiant Life by Chantal Neveu, translated by Erin Mour

This Radiant Lifeis a singlelong poem that looks at the elements that make up our world and the spaces in between. It considers this idea of our individual selves, and how this self is situated in a collective togetherness.

When you can read it: Nov. 19, 2020

Chantal Neveu is a poet and multidisciplinary artist from Montreal. Her other poetry collections available in English includeCotandmentale.

Erin Mour is a translator and poet from Calgary, who now lives in Montreal. Her own poetry collections includeThe Unmemntioable,Kapusta,The Elements andFurious, which won the 1988 Governor General's Literary Award for poetry.