The Poetry in Voice 2024 national finalists are Daniela Damier Ducreux, top left, James Hoag, top middle, Emilia Lebedeva, top right, Cynthia Li, middle left, Leila Malo, middle, Sara-Joelle Yao, middle right, Maia Cassie, bottom left, Bem Denga, bottom middle, and Chloé Simard. (Poetry in Voice)
Nine Canadian students have reached the top of the annual 2024 Poetry In Voice competition, beating out 24,000 students in a national poetry performance challenge that awards prizes of $1,000 to $3,000.
The finalists competed in a series of meets — school contests, the online qualifiers and the semifinals — before reaching the finals held at the National Arts Centre.
Emiliia Lebedeva from Calgary, Chloé Simard from Saint-Lambert, Que., and Leïla Malo from Montreal won first prize in their categories — English, bilingual and French, respectively. Each of them received $3,000.
James Hoag from Vancouver, Bem Denga from Calgary and Cynthia Li from Montreal came in second place in their categories. Each received $2,000.
Daniela Damier Ducreux from Montreal, Maia Cassie from Duncan, B.C., and Sara-Joelle Yao from St-Albert, Alta., received third prize. They each won $1,000.
The finalists recited poetry from Billy Ray-Belcourt, Charles Baudelaire and Ruth Daniell.
The finalists' recitations were judged by a jury of poets; Michael Crummey, Susan Musgrave and Armand Garnet Ruffo for the English recitations; Marie-Célie Agnant, Natasha Kanapé Fontaine and Chloé Savoie-Bernard for the French recitations.
The competition was established in 2010 by Scott Griffin, chairman and founder of the Griffin Trust for Excellence In Poetry.