even this dust / some walks of late / of a feather / this slowly by J. R. Carpenter

J. R. Carpenter has made the 2021 CBC Poetry Prize longlist for even this dust / some walks of late / of a feather / this slowly.

• 31 writers make the 2021 CBC Poetry Prize longlist

The winner of the 2021 CBC Poetry Prize will receive $6,000 from the Canada Council for the Arts, have their work published on CBC Books and have the opportunity to attend a two-week writing residency at the Banff Centre for Arts and Creativity. Four finalists will each receive $1,000 from the Canada Council for the Arts and have their work published on CBC Books.

The shortlist will be announced on Nov. 18 and the winner will be announced on Nov. 24.

If you're interested in the CBC Literary Prizes, the CBC Nonfiction Prize opens in January and the CBC Poetry Prize opens in April.

About J. R. Carpenter

J. R. Carpenter is a writer working across performance, print and digital media. Her digital poem The Gathering Cloud won the New Media Writing Prize in 2016. Her debut poetry collection, An Ocean of Static, was Highly Commended by the Forward Prizes 2018. Her most recent collection, This is a Picture of Wind, has been longlisted for the Laurel Prize and was one of the Guardian's best poetry books of 2020. Born in Mi'kma'ki, she lived in Tiohtià:ke for many years. Carpenter currently lives in England.

Entry in five-ish words

"A series of river walks."

The poem's source of inspiration

"During the pandemic, I made a pact with another writer. We would go outside every day and report back. That's it. That was our strategy for getting through the long winter. These poems come from this daily practice of writing about walking. I was in the river valley in amiskwacîwâskahikan (Edmonton)."

These poems come from this daily practice of writing about walking.

First lines

even this dust

people keep trying to tell me. Edmonton is a city. 
the scale. of this place. eludes me.

amiskwacîwâskahikan. from the Cree. 
for beaver hills house. and indeed. there are beavers. 

building houses. within walking distance. from the house. 
I am renting. I am visiting. I am listening. I am glimpsing.

occasional glints. of glass and steel. rising. through poplars.
a confusion. of figure and forest. city and field.

a corner garden. a blaze. of cosmos. and chrysanthemums. 
a false sky. of blue tarpaulin. bright. against the wildfire haze.

scrambling. down a non-path. skirting a soft edge. 
squatting. to examine. a conglomeration. 

About the 2021 CBC Poetry Prize

The winner of the 2021 CBC Poetry Prize will receive $6,000 from the Canada Council for the Arts, have their work published on CBC Books and attend a two-week writing residency at the Banff Centre for the Arts and Creativity. Four finalists will each receive $1,000 from the Canada Council for the Arts and have their work published on CBC Books.

The 2022 CBC Nonfiction Prize will open in January. The 2022 CBC Poetry Prize will open in April.