Anne Carson at Blue Metropolis (credit: Michel Pinault)

Toronto-born poet Anne Carson, Montreal writer Ghayas Hachem, and American-Canadian author and aboriginal rights activist Thomas King were recognized with awards at the Blue Metropolis international literary festival in Montreal on April 16.

Carson received the $10,000 Blue Metropolis Grand Prix for a lifetime of literary achievement, while Hachem was awarded the $3,000 Literary Diversity Prize for a First Publication for Play Boys (Les Éditions du Boréal), and King won the $5,000 First Peoples Literary Prize.

Mexican author Valeria Luiselli and Franco-Djibouti author Abdourahman Waberi were also recognized with the Premio Metropolis Azul Award and the Words to Change Prize, respectively.