Priscila Uppal Memorial Award for Poetry 

“She was, as anyone who knew her will tell you, one of the true, great lovers of story. Priscila was the kind of woman you did not know you needed until she arrived. And I know she will keep on arriving in everything she’s left behind.” – Canisia Lubrin

Named “Canada’s coolest poet” by Time Out London, Priscila Uppal was a tour-de-force and her poetry was anything but sit-down, tame, or by the book. Priscila wasn’t afraid to wear wigs, be theatrical, and laugh in the face of the darkness we all face, to put her hands right in that darkness and dig around for something to grasp onto. For this contest, our first under Canthius’s new leadership, we encourage submissions that explore that darkness and find ways to grab ahold of something in the midst of it all. Our hope is that this award will honour Priscila’s legacy as a mentor and friend to many. 

“Your soul has been waiting for you,
hands in its pockets. Hands
In its pockets with deep, dark holes.”

— Priscila Uppal, “I Call My Spirit Back” from On Second Thought (2018)

The Priscila Uppal Memorial Award for Poetry is given to the single best poem submitted, along with a $500 cash prize. A runner-up also receives a $200 cash prize.

Contest Details

2026 Contest Dates: March 1st to May 1st 2026

Short List and Winners will be announced in July 2026

First Prize: $500

Runner-up: $250

Entry Fee: $15 (paid through submittable), and $5 for each subsequent entry

To make the contest as accessible as possible, we have a limited number of fee waivers available. If the contest entry fee is a financial barrier for you, please email editor@canthius.com to request a fee waiver.

2026 Judges

To mark the return of the Priscila Uppal Memorial Award here at Canthius, our 2026 competition will be jointly judged by volunteers from our Board of Directors and Editorial Collective.

This year’s judges are: Sneha Madhavan-Reese, Puneet Dutt, Amy Leblanc, Karen Schindler, Manahil Bandukwala, Ashley Hynd, and Natalie Lim

Past Winners

More about past winners can be found here. Our sincerest thanks to all who contributed to making our first contest a success, especially to Phoebe Wang, Liz Howard, and to Priscila’s friends and family for their love and support. We’re so grateful to the executors of Priscila’s literary estate for their support of this award and for their guidance on its design and administration. We’re also grateful especially to Puneet Dutt for her continued dedication to and support of the award and Canthius as a whole.

ABOUT PRISCILA UPPAL

Priscila Uppal (1974-2018) was a Toronto poet, fiction writer, and professor. Among her publications were nine collections of poetry, including Ontological Necessities which was shortlisted for the 2006 Griffin Prize. Her poetry is philosophical and lyrical, always defiant and rooted in the day-to-day of intimate and social life. Uppal’s writing crossed genres and her craft shifted to suit the distinctive insights of her many works of poetry, fiction, theatre, and criticism. Uppal taught at York University and was a mentor to many young poets. She died in 2018 after a long struggle with synovial sarcoma, a rare form of cancer.