I was delighted to learn that Out of the Ordinary has been named the winner of the 2026 Al and Eurithe Purdy Poetry Prize.
The $10,000 prize was established in 2024 by Eurithe Purdy to honour the legacy of her late husband, famed Canadian poet Al Purdy (1918–2000), twice winner of the Governor General’s Literary Award for poetry. Eligible for this year’s award were books published in 2025 by Canadian writers with five traditionally published poetry titles in print.
The award is particularly meaningful to me since Al Purdy was very helpful to me as a young poet, not least by including me in his 1971 anthology of Canadian poets under 30, Storm Warning, which led to my first book being accepted by McClelland & Stewart. The relaxed conversational style of many of Al’s poems—a tone harder to achieve than it looks—has been a model for me all my writing life. A framed publicity photo of Al glowers down at me in my writing room, his daily presence both an inspiration and a warning to stay honest in what I create at the keyboard.
The prize is administered by the Al Purdy A-frame Association, which operates a writer-in-residency program at the poet’s former home in Ameliasburgh, Ontario. The winner is announced each year on April 21, the anniversary of Al’s death. The inaugural recipient was Alberta author (and friend) Sid Marty. The 2025 recipient was Toronto author A.F. Moritz.
I’ll receive the award at a free public event at 7 pm on Tuesday, May 5, at People’s Co-op Bookstore, 1391 Commercial Dr., Vancouver. I intend to read a few of Al’s poems that were important to me over the years, as well as a selection from Out of the Ordinary.
