The Griffin Poetry Prize has announced Dawn Macdonald, author of Northerny, the winner of the 2025 Canadian First Book Prize. As part of the honor, Macdonald will be in residence at Civitella in 2026.
The judges praised her debut collection, saying “Dawn Macdonald’s Northerny is a blast of crisp Yukon air. Funny and fresh, unexpected and daring, it understands ‘the personal is heretical,’ and glories in that fact. It’s a rush, a relief, and remakes with impishness the notion of what a poem can be.”
Macdonald will read from her winning book in the 2025 Griffin Poetry Prize Readings on June 4 , 2025 at 7:30 PM ET, live in Toronto or via YouTube livestream here.
Learn more and get your tickets here.
Congratulations, Dawn!