MONTRÉAL, QC, January 11, 2022 – Nine students have been named Canada’s top junior reciters in Poetry In Voice's 2022 junior recitation competition.
These top-scoring students are awarded prizes for themselves and for their school libraries for the purchase of poetry books.
The nine student winners are:
English Prize Stream
Valeria Villeda won the first prize of $300 for the best combined score of two recitations in English, and $200 for the library of St. Mary's Academy in Winnipeg, Manitoba.
Claire Singer won the second prize of $200, and $200 for the library of The Sacred Heart School of Montreal in Montreal, Quebec.
Radha Maria Vargas-Saravanamuttu won the third prize of $100, and $200 for the library of Hillfield Strathallan College in Hamilton, Ontario.
Bilingual Prize Stream
Emma Gobbi won the first prize of $300 for the best combined score of one recitation in English and one recitation in French, and $200 for the library of The Sacred Heart School of Montreal in Montreal, Quebec.
Eden Simhon won the second prize of $200, and $200 for the library of École Maïmonide Campus Parkhaven in Côte St-Luc, Quebec.
Gaëlle Zrihen won the third prize of $100, and $200 for the library of École Maïmonide Campus Jacob Safra in St-Laurent, Quebec.
French Prize Stream
Gabrielle Barbonie-Charbel won the first prize of $300 for the best combined score of two recitations in French, and $200 for the library of Collège Beaubois in Pierrefonds, Quebec.
Andrew Hamzo won the second prize of $200, and $200 for the library of Ashbury College in Ottawa, Ontario.
Constance Doyon won the third prize of $100, and $200 for the library of Villa Ste-Marcelline in Westmount, Quebec.
Last Fall, students in grades 6, 7, and 8 from across the country participated in classroom and school contests by learning poems by heart from the Poetry In Voice/Les voix de la poésie online anthology. Each school's champion entered the Junior Online Finals by submitting two recitation videos for consideration. The videos were judged and the winners were selected by a panel of 6 Canadian poets.