A city councilor from St. John’s, Newfoundland and Labrador, has won the First Canadian Book Award, administered by the Griffin Poetry Prize.
Maggie Burton received the $10,000 prize for her poetry collection Chores.
The judges described the collection as both “traditional and inventive”.
In addition to serving her second term as general councilor in the capital of Newfoundland and Labrador, Ms.me Burton is a professional violinist.
She is only the second winner of the Canadian First Book Prize, created by the Griffin Poetry Prize which combined its Canadian and international categories into a single global winner.
It rewards the best first collection of poetry by a Canadian or permanent resident published in English during the previous year.