April is National Poetry Month, a celebration of “poetry and its vital place in Canada’s culture” established by the League of Canadian Poets in 1998. The theme for 2025 “FAMILY in its many forms: found and chosen family, birth family, and family that defies categorization.” More specifically, the League encourages us to “examine the shape of family in your life now, to witness the intergenerational impact of ancestors, and to consider the role of family in generations to come.”

This month, we’re celebrating poems published in Alberta’s diverse literary magazines—all recipients of Alberta Magazine Awards for poetry. (We’re sharing brief excerpts, so please click through to read the full poem).

“Three Poems: This Sweet Rupture” by Omar Ramadan, published in The Polyglot. Silver for Poetry, 2023/24 Alberta Magazine Awards.

The WhatsApp family group chat dings
at three in the morning.
I flit through a deluge of messages and
filtered photos of long lost family.

“Gull Lake” by David Martin, published in Funicular. Silver for Poetry, 2022/23 Alberta Magazine Awards.

when i see my grandfather
it’s dust-light

pool hall
he’s behind the eight
drenched in        jukebox

“nehiyaw mîcimâpôy | indian stew” by Karrie Auger, published in The Polyglot. Silver for Poetry, 2020/21 Alberta Magazine Awards

api
patchwork quilt
leftover pieces
smell of relative
rests on my shoulders.

“Two Poems: Dear Healing Walk” by Jen Currin, published in filling Station. Silver for Poetry, 2017/18 Alberta Magazine Awards.

But after we touched, we started
to love, and then there was so much,
piles of homework.

Discover more incredible poetry in Alberta’s many literary magazines. You can even save when you subscribe to participating titles with the Read Alberta subscription promotion—subscribe to two titles and save 50% off the total price!