The Irish Independent was kind enough to pay us heed in this Saturday’s (March 23) edition, saying, “There’s money in poetry, too, these days.” Read the whole article here.

Along with poets Chris Abani, Matthew Shenoda, Gabeba Baderoon, John Keene, and Bernadine Evaristo, Kwame Dawes — one of the Montreal Prize’s new jurors for the much anticipated 2013 competition — is running an exciting new initiative called the African Poetry Book Fund. According to the APBF website, their mission is as follows:

“The African Poetry Book Fund promotes and advances the development and publication of the poetic arts through its book series, contests, workshops, and seminars and through its collaborations with publishers, festivals, booking agents, colleges, universities, conferences and all other entities that share an interest in the poetic arts of Africa.”

The primary activity of the APBF is the African Poetry Book Series:

“Beginning in January 2014, the imprint will publish four new titles by African poets each year. In addition the series will publish every few years an anthology representing African regions, themes, and ideas.”

We at the Montreal Prize hope the APBF will soon be offering subscriptions to this compelling new series. We expect many others are as excited as we are at the prospect of four titles a year!

Click on the following link to see the poster for the inaugural Sillerman First Book Prize for African Poets.  APBF-2012-poster (1)

And follow this link to the APBF website: http://africanpoetrybf.unl.edu

Congratulations to Montreal International Poetry Prize winner Mark Tredinnick again! Not a year after winning the Montreal Prize, Australian poet, Mark Tredinnick has won the Cardiff International Poetry Competition! Prize judges Patrick McGuinness and Sinéad Morrissey (one of the 2011 Montreal Prize editors) awarded the first prize to Mark’s “Margaret River Sestets.” If you’d like to see the Cardiff Competition’s press release, click here. And here’s the winning poem: show me.

2011 Montreal International Poetry Prize winner Mark Tredinnick and Montreal Prize co-founder Asa Boxer were recently interviewed by Jeanette Kelly on CBC Radio’s Cinq à Six. Click here to listen to the interview for as long as they keep it online!

Listen to Montreal Prize co-founder Len Epp’s interview with Harriett Gilbert on the BBC World Service’s arts show The Strand. And then stay tuned for a wonderful interview with Montreal Prize Advisory Board Member Ben Okri.

A nice mention of one of our longlisted poets, Robyn Black:

http://www.mmg.com.au/local-news/shepparton/black-s-being-read-across-the-world-1.9974

An article in The Age: http://www.theage.com.au/entertainment/books/poet-walks-away-with-major-international-prize-20111218-1p0lr.html

Here’s Poets & Writers Magazine on our December 15th announcements, with a video of our 2011 Broadside poet, Linda Rogers, giving a reading: http://www.pw.org/content/australian_poet_wins_fiftythousand_dollar_prize

Here’s an article about our 2011 final announcements from the Australian Associated Press: http://news.ninemsn.com.au/mobile/entertainment/8390892/australian-poet-scoops-global-poetry-award?_sp=2045&_s=ffffffff-ffff-ffff-ffff-ffffffffffff

Here’s an article about our 2011 final announcements in the Montreal Gazette: http://www.montrealgazette.com/entertainment/move-guide/Australian+wins+Montreal+Poetry+Prize/5869906/story.html