Vancouver Island University professor and poet Sonnet L’Abbé

Poet Sonnet L’Abbé was awarded the 2017 bpNichol Chapbook Award on Nov. 18 during the annual Indie Literary Market in Toronto. L’Abbé, who resides on Vancouver Island, won the prize for Anima Canadensis, a collection of poems published earlier this year by Junction Books.

The bpNichol Chapbook Award, named for the late poet, novelist, and micropress publisher, is awarded annually for a collection of poetry no more than 48 pages, published in the previous year. The $4,000 prize is the richest in Canada for a poetry chapbook. This year’s judges included Helen Guri and Hoa Nguyen, who selected L’Abbé’s book from more than 60 entries.