Best Canadian Poetry 2026

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Best Canadian Poetry 2026

Edited by: Mary Dalton

Series edited by: Anita Lahey

Selected by editor Mary Dalton, the 2026 edition of Best Canadian Poetry showcases the best Canadian poetry writing published in the past year.

Featuring introductions by Mary Dalton and series editor Anita Lahey, Best Canadian Poetry 2026 offers a collection of brief but impactful glimpses into our current literary landscape, that expands our worldview and continues in the series tradition of asking: What constitutes a great poem?

Featuring:

John Wall Barger • Ronna Bloom • Nicholas Bradley • Petra Chambers • Carolina Corcoran • Kayla Czaga • Danielle Devereaux • Irina Dumitrescu • Puneet Dutt • Darrell Epp • Susan Glickman • Ariel Gordon • Jennifer Gossoo • Sue Goyette • Richard Greene • Glenn Hayes • Henry Heavyshield • Dave Hickey • Nancy Huggett • Kevin Irie • Emily Kedar • Conor Kerr • Evelyn Lau • Sylvia Legris • Steve McOrmond • Estlin McPhee • M.W. Miller • Khashayar “Kess” Mohammadi • George Moore • Paul Moorehead • A.F. Moritz • Megan Morrison • Erín Moure • Cassandra Myers • Shane Neilson • Nofel • David O’Meara • John O’Neill • Michael Ondaatje • Craig Francis Power • John Reibetanz • Ozayr Saloojee • Vivek Sharma • Sue Sinclair • Karen Solie • Misha Solomon • Susan White • Erin Wilson • Jaeyun Yoo • Patricia Young

AUTHOR

Mary Dalton

Mary Dalton has published five volumes of poetry, including Merrybegot (2003) and Red Ledger (2006), and Hooking (2014). Her work has been widely anthologized in Canada and abroad. Dalton has won numerous awards, including the E.J. Pratt Award (the Newfoundland and Labrador Book Award), and has been shortlisted for the Winterset, Pat Lowther, Atlantic Poetry Award, the inaugural J. M. Abraham Award, and the inaugural Fred Cogswell Award for Excellence in Poetry. She lives in St. John’s, Newfoundland.

AUTHOR

Anita Lahey

Anita Lahey’s Out to Dry in Cape Breton (2006), was nominated for the Trillium Book Award for Poetry and the Ottawa Book Award. She is a past winner of the Great Blue Heron Poetry Prize and the Ralph Gustafson Prize for Best Poem, and her work has been shortlisted several times for the CBC Literary Award for Poetry.

Reviews

Praise forBest Canadian Poetry

A magnet I think for the many people who would like to know contemporary poetryltbr gtAF Moritz Griffin Poetry Prize winner

The wide range of writers forms and themes represented here make it a great jumpingoff point for readers who might be interested in Canadian poetry but are unsure about where to startltbr gtGlobe and Mail

One of the best things about the end of the year is having a chance to look back The threeBest Canadianvolumes are a snapshot of some of the finest in Canadian writing this yearltbr gtRobert J WiersemaToronto Star

Buy it or borrow it but do read itltbr gtArc Poetry Magazine

These books are musthaves for libraries schools and intellectually wellintentioned bedside nightstands across the countryltbr gtQuill amp Quire