About
Joanna Lilley's fifth book and third poetry collection, Endlings, was published by Turnstone Press in 2020 and won the Fred Kerner Book Award. Joanna is also the author of a novel, Worry Stones (Ronsdale Press), which was longlisted for the Caledonia Novel Award, and a short story collection, The Birthday Books (Hagios Press). Joanna's other poetry collections are If There Were Roads (Turnstone Press), and The Fleece Era (Brick Books) which was nominated for the Fred Cogswell Award for Excellence in Poetry. Joanna loves sharing the joy of words has given readings, talks and workshops as far afield as Alaska and Iceland. As well as an MLitt degree in creative writing from the Universities of Glasgow and Strathclyde, she has a postgraduate certificate in creative writing from the Humber School for Writers and diplomas in journalism and plain language editing. She's a founding board member of Yukon Words and in 2021 won the Borealis Prize, the Commissioner of Yukon Award for Literary Contribution. Joanna grew up in the south of England and lived in Wales and Scotland before emigrating to Canada fifteen years after a solo bicycle ride across Canada and over the Arctic Circle. She now lives in Whitehorse, Yukon, with gratitude on the Traditional Territories of the Kwanlin Dün First Nation and the Ta'an Kwäch'än Council.
Read Joanna's poems
- Rebecca collection, shortlisted, special mention, Andrew Singer Prize for Verse, Trafika Europe
- Missing Pieces, The Litter I See Project
- Denial, highly commended, Gingko Prize
- Beauty, Turnstone Poetry
- (sea) (lake) (river), The Scales Project
- Tomography and other poems, Geographies, Ice Floe Press
- Tinto, Poetry Map of Scotland, a StAnza Poetry Festival project
- Waterlogged, The Walrus
Listen to Joanna's work
- Night Vision, poetry by Joanna Lilley, music by Stephen Chatman, commissioned by Whitehorse Community Choir
- My Mother Made Sure, Aryamati Poetry Prize runner-up, UK
- Nothing Can Be Done, Turnstone Poetry
- Out of Kilter, Bimblebox Art Project, Australia
- I Hold Up My Hands, 49th Shelf Launchpad
- Specimen, Bakings literary journal, Scotland
- Worry Stones, Ronsdale Press YouTube channel
What Joanna is working on
Joanna is currently working on fiction projects with the very much appreciated support of Canada Council for the Arts grants, a Government of Yukon Advanced Artist Award and support from the Access Copyright Foundation.
Joanna is also working on a poetry manuscript and a family project with her niece Leonora Lilley.
