Canadian poets David W. McFadden, James Pollock and Ian Williams are competing for the lucrative Griffin Poetry Prize.

The prize — created by businessman Scott Griffin — awards $65,000 each year to an international poet and a Canadian one.

Toronto resident McFadden is up for his collection What's the Score, while Pollock — who lives in Madison, Wis., is in the running for Sailing to Babylon. Williams, of Brampton, Ont., made the cut for Personals.

The international finalists are:

  • Like a Straw Bird It Follows Me, and Other Poems by Houston-based Fady Joudah, translated from the Arabic, written by Ramallah-based Ghassan Zaqtan;
  • Liquid Nitrogen by Jennifer Maiden;
  • Night of the Republic by Alan Shapiro, who is a professor at the University of North Carolina;
  • Our Andromeda by Brooklyn, N.Y.-based Brenda Shaughnessy.

The international judging panel — Canadian Suzanne Buffam, American Mark Doty and Wang Ping of China — read 509 books of poetry from 40 countries, including 15 translations.

The seven finalists will receive $10,000 each for participating in short list readings on June 12. The two winners — who will be announced the following night — will each receive $65,000.