Best Canadian Poetry 2026

Mary Dalton is the author of six books of poetry, among them Merrybegot, Red Ledger, Hooking, and Interrobang, as well as a prose miscellany, Edge: Essays, Reviews, Interviews. The book version of her 2020 Pratt Lecture, The Vernacular Strain in Newfoundland Poetry, was released by Breakwater in 2022. She lives in St. John's, Newfoundland.

Anita Lahey's third poetry collection, While Supplies Last, was published by Véhicule Press in 2023. She's also co-author of the graphic-novel-in-verse, Fire Monster, a collaboration with artist Pauline Conley (Palimpsest, 2023). Her memoir The Last Goldfish: a True Tale of Friendship was a finalist for the 2021 Ottawa Book Award. Anita first joined Best Canadian Poetry as assistant series editor in 2014, and has served as series editor since 2018. She lives with her family in Ottawa.