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Vancouver: A Poem named finalist for Dorothy Livesay Award

Book-length poem about writer's adopted city in running for BC Book Prize; winner announced April 25

2009.03.13 — Vancouver: A Poem by George Stanley is a finalist for the 2009 Dorothy Livesay Prize, awarded annually to the best book by a BC poet.

Stanley's book-length poem is a rich, complex, yet extremely readable meditation on identity, place, belonging, and poetry itself. Inspired by William Carlos Williams's long poem Paterson, about the New Jersey city where he spent most of his life, Vancouver: A Poem is George Stanley's seventh book, and first book of new work since 2000's At Andy's.

In 2004 Stanley was the recipient of the Shelley Award, granted annually by the Poetry Society of America. In 2003, a hardcover selection of his work, A Tall Serious Girl, was published in the United States. He has also written Gentle Northern Summer (1995), Opening Day (1983), The Stick (1974) and You (1973).

Vancouver: A Poem was reviewed in the Vancouver Sun's March 21 edition. A downloadable PDF of the complete book is available here.

The other finalists are Daphne Marlatt, Elise Partridge, Nilofar Shidmehr, and Karen Hofmann. The judges were Margaret Gunning, Evelyn Lau, and Billeh Nickerson. The winner will be announced at the BC Book Prizes dinner, April 25 in Vancouver. "