From Newsgroup: rec.arts.poems
On Jan 23, 2026, David Dalton wrote
(in article<
0001HW.2F232DE8002EFFBC30B5D238F@news.eternal-september.org>):
As part of the 29th annual Newfoundland& Labrador
Book Awards, presented by WritersNL,
the E.J.Pratt Family Poetry Prize shortlist is:
1. Chores by Maggie Burton
2. Interrobang by Mary Dalton
3. Island by Douglas Walbourne-Gough.
The jurors are Randy Drover, Aaron Tucker, and Christina Wells.
There will be shortlist readings Jan. 29, 7 p.m., Bannerman Brewing,
and the NLBA Prize Ceremony Jan. 30, 7 p.m., Colonial Building,
here in St. JohnrCOs, Newfoundland and Labrador, Canada.
IrCOll follow up here announcing the winner after the ceremony.
Mary Dalton won the award.
Jury Citation:
Striking, playful, and precise, INTERROBANG embodies its titular punctuation, fusing the questioning and the exclaimed. Contemplating home, community, aging, the lost and forgotten, Mary Dalton carries readers from the shop to the ditch, from dim-lit clubs to AlbarCOs oak desk, all the while exploring the delicate threads of hearth and heart, and returning most insistently to the textures of Newfoundland and Labrador. At the core of Interrobang lies DaltonrCOs profound linguistic curiosity; her exploration of vernacular unfolds as both dance and puzzle. Braiding ambiguity, exuberance, and nettle-sharp observation, these poems are richly nostalgic, exceedingly
local, yet somehow universal. Close reading is consistently rewarded, revealing hidden delights in the subtle adjustments of language, in lists, in riddles, in unexpected leaps, in the measured cadence of words and lines. The work gathered here can be nothing other than poetry.
Buy this book from the publisher or your local independent bookseller. Publisher:
https://vehiculepress.com/shop/interrobang-by-mary-dalton/
David Dalton
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