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  Kei Kellough makes the shortlist for the Gleed Award Caribbean Canadian writers continue succeed even during these stay-at-home times By Stephen Weir Last May  Kaie Kellough  won the richest poetry prize in the land.  The Guyanese Canadian poet Kaie Kellough was awarded the annual $65,000 Griffin Poetry Prize for his poetry book,  Magnetic Equator.  Almost a year to the day Kellough has made the shortlist for  twenty-fourth annual Danuta Gleed Literary Award for his short story collection  Dominoes at the Crossroads .   The Writers' Union of Canada administers the Gleed Award and announced the shortlist of contenders earlier this month. The Award recognizes the best first collection of short fiction by a Canadian author published in 2020 in the English language. The prize consists of cash prizes for the three best first collections, with a first prize of $10,000 and two additional prizes of $1,000. Five authors have made the shortlist.  In addition to Kellough; Frances Boyle (See

Ian Williams reaches the Stars with his Poems and Books By Stephen Weir One day earlier this month Trinidadian Canadian writer Ian Williams passed over from being a rising talent to that of an honest to goodness literary star.  In September the award winning poet and author was made a spokesman for Canada’s richest fiction prize, was featured in an exclusive magazine for the country’s well-heeled and oversaw the publishing of his new book of poems. Williams was born in Trinidad in 1979 and moved to Brampton with his family when he was 9.   He earned his PHD at the University of Toronto and is currently a professor of poetry at the University of British Columbia. Last year his first novel, Reproduction won the $100,000 Giller Prize and was shortlisted for two other significant Canadian book prizes. Williams’s poetry books have been shortlisted and won many Canadian Literary Prizes!  W ord Problems , his latest book is a mash-up of poetry and prose and is currently being printed

Kaie Kellough Wins  $65,000 Griffin Poetry Prize By Stephen Weir - Guyanese Canadian poet Kaie Kellough has won the $65,000 Griffin Poetry Prize for his  book, Magnetic Equator. This prize – the largest in the English-speaking world – is awarded each year to two poets ( one Canadian and the other, international). Kellough was born in British Columbia and now lives in Montreal.  His maternal family is originally from Guyana and much of his poetry revolves around his Caribbean heritage and life experiences. “This particular book is partly set in Guyana (in Georgetown and in the rainforest),” Kellough told the Caribbean Camera shortly after winning the Prize. “It is also set in Calgary, where I spent many of my formative years.” ”The book moves back and forth between north and south, Calgary and Georgetown, as it tries to answer some very fundamental questions that many of us ask: who am I and how did I get here? ” I’m very much interested in family history, and in the