Best Canadian Poetry 2026

Mary Dalton is the author of six books of poetry, among them Merrybegot, Red Ledger, Hooking, and Interrobang, as well as a prose miscellany, Edge: Essays, Reviews, Interviews. The book version of her 2020 Pratt Lecture, The Vernacular Strain in Newfoundland Poetry, was released by Breakwater in 2022. She lives in St. John’s, Newfoundland.Anita Lahey’s third poetry collection, While Supplies Last, was published by Véhicule Press in 2023. She’s also co-author of the graphic-novel-in-verse, Fire Monster, a collaboration with artist Pauline Conley (Palimpsest, 2023). Her memoir The Last Goldfish: a True Tale of Friendship was a finalist for the 2021 Ottawa Book Award. Anita first joined Best Canadian Poetry as assistant series editor in 2014, and has served as series editor since 2018. She lives with her family in Ottawa.

Praise for Best Canadian Poetry“A magnet, I think, for the many people who would like to know contemporary poetry.”—A.F. Moritz, Griffin Poetry Prize winner"One of the gifts America gave Canadian poetry was Molly Peacock, a famed poet who, upon arrival in Toronto, originated the Best Canadian Poetry series, transplanting your grand tradition here . . . You might not be able to get the news from this book, exactly, but you can find that which will keep you from corruption yourself."—Shane Neilson, Washington Independent Review of Books“The wide range of writers, forms and themes represented here make it a great jumping-off point for readers who might be interested in Canadian poetry but are unsure about where to start.”—Globe and Mail“One of the best things about the end of the year is having a chance to look back. The three Best Canadian volumes . . . are a snapshot of some of the finest in Canadian writing this year.”—Robert J. Wiersema, Toronto Star"The anthology provides a vital aesthetic service by showing community across all this difference. We need this stuff; for one, because contemporary literature is largely defined as 'novels.' Storytelling is big. It has such cultural force that it even shows up in the bulk of these fifty lyrics, even though narrative is not precisely a lyric thing."—Harold Rhenisch, The BC Review"Best Canadian Poetry is an annual treat. I love the cream-skimmed aspect, the cross-section of what people are thinking about and how they are expressing it. It’s a sort of snapshot of the Canadian poetic zeitgeist . . . I’m regretting not buying more of these."—Pearl Pirie, Miramichi Reader“Buy it, or borrow it, but do read it.”—Arc Poetry Magazine“[These] books are must-haves for libraries, schools, and intellectually well-intentioned bedside nightstands across the country.”—Quill & Quire