Welcome to a special edition of The Interruption. Today and for the next few episodes we will be featuring interviews with and readings by the Canadian poets who have been short listed for the prestigious Griffin Poetry Prize.

Today I am speaking with North Vancouver poet Russell Thornton whose book of poems, The Hundred Lives, was published by Quattro Books and has been shortlisted for the 2015 Griffin Poetry Prize.

Russell Thornton has published five previous books of poetry, with House Built of Rain being shortlisted for the BC Book Prize and the ReLit Poetry Award and Birds, Metals, Stones & Rain shortlisted for the 2013 Governor General’s Award. Thornton won the League of Canadian Poets National Contest in 2000 and The Fiddlehead magazine’s Ralph Gustafson Prize in 2009. He lives in North Vancouver.

The Interruption is a 49th Shelf–Books on the Radio collaboration in which I interview Canadian writers about the surprising things that inform, inspire, and even interrupt their creative process. The first podcast is my conversation with Russell, while the second is his reading from The Hundred Lives.

Thanks to our friends at the Griffin Poetry Prize for being so helpful in arranging these interviews.

Thank you for listening.

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Listen to other 2015 Griffin Poetry Prize finalists Shane Book and Jane Munro.