The League of Canadian Poets has announced the shortlists for its annual poetry awards, to be presented on June 10.

Nominees for the Gerald Lampert Memorial Award, recognizing a debut collection by a Canadian poet, include: Assdeep in Wonder by Christopher Gudgeon (Anvil Press); The Back Channels by Jennifer Houle (Signature Editions); Players by John Nyman (Palimpsest Press); This Being by Ingrid Ruthig (Fitzhenry & Whiteside); The Unlit Path Behind the House by Margo Wheaton (McGill-Queen’s University Press); and Songs of Exile by Bänoo Zan (Guernica Editions).

Six books are nominated for the Pat Lowther Memorial Award, given to a book of Canadian poetry written by a woman: 100 Days by Juliane Okot Bitek (University of Alberta Press); Float by Anne Carson (Knopf); Lady Crawford by Julie Cameron Gray (Palimpsest Press); Let the Empire Down by Alexandra Oliver (Biblioasis); Heaven’s Thieves by Sue Sinclair (Brick Books); and The Description of the World by Johanna Skibsrud (Wolsak & Wynn).

Shortlists for two additional awards also were announced, including the Raymond Souster Award, recognizing a collection written by a league member, and the Sheri-D Wilson Gold Beret Award, presented to a spoken-word artist.