Source
The National Post
Every year, when the shortlists for the Griffin Poetry Prize are announced, Scott Griffin, the prize’s founder and namesake, takes the podium and recites a poem from memory. It’s an ability Griffin acquired in his formative years, when his father made the children memorize poems as punishment or as a parlour trick to recite before guests at a dinner party.
Story link
http://arts.nationalpost.com/2010/11/23/poetry-in-voice/