For immediate release — 11 am EDT, March 20, 2025
MONTREAL, QC – Poetry In Voice/Les voix de la poésie is excited to announce the nine national finalists of its prestigious senior poetry recitation contest, along with the sixteen talented students selected for FutureVerse.
OVER 10,000 HIGH SCHOOL STUDENTS!
In a remarkable display of talent, more than 10,000 high school students from across the country participated in the challenge, reciting poems from memory from the Poetry In Voice/Les voix de la poésie online anthology. Students in grades 10–12 competed for top honors in the Senior Online Qualifiers in the English, French, or Bilingual streams.
$25,000 IN PRIZES!
The nationwide competition saw 24 exceptional students advance to the semifinals, judged by a distinguished panel of poets, with each semifinalist receiving $250 and the two winners of the People’s Choice Award winning $500. Another $18,000 are up for grabs at our upcoming National Finals!
NATIONAL FINALS
Without further ado, here are our 2025 nine National Finalists!
English Stream
- Heart Barabad, Kildonan-East Collegiate, Winnipeg, MB
- Isa Torres Rangel, All Saints High School, Calgary, AB
- Annabel Wood, École Secondaire Mont-Bleu, Gatineau, QC
Bilingual Stream
- Margot Cadrin, Collège Beaubois, Pierrefonds, QC
- Nour Snani, Glenforest Secondary School, Mississauga, ON
- Zak Tucker, Eric Hamber Secondary School, Vancouver, BC
French Stream
- Yasmine Aouchiche, École Internationale de Montréal, Montréal, QC
- Victor Dubé-Marcus, Collège St-Alexandre de la Gatineau, Gatineau, QC
- Omar Elbatouty, École Secondaire Étienne-Brûlé, Toronto, ON
These nine finalists will showcase their talents live during the 15th Poetry In Voice National Finals at Vancouver’s The Centre on May 15th, with the event also available for streaming on the Poetry In Voice/Les voix de la poésie website.
THE JUDGES
A distinguished panel of six judges will preside over the National Finals in Vancouver.
The English recitations will be evaluated by:
The French recitations will be judged by:
PEOPLE’S CHOICE AWARD
The People’s Choice Award received over 3500 votes on our website, allowing viewers to choose their two favorite recitations, one in French and one in English, among the 24 semifinalists.
Congratulations to the winners of the People's Choice Award:
- Lyric Petty, Elmwood High School, Winnipeg, MB for their outstanding English recitation of “Let Us Be Fireflies” by Natalie Wee, and
- Frida Cuaquentzi Piteev, Collège Beaubois, Pierrefonds, QC for their exceptional French recitation of “La robe de mariée” by Perrine Le Querrec
Each winner has been awarded an additional $500. Their winning performances, along with the other semi-finalist recitations, can be viewed by clicking on the links above.
FUTUREVERSE
Alongside the National Finals in Vancouver, FutureVerse will support emerging young writers through a four-day, all-expenses-paid poetry intensive. Participants will take part in workshops, panels, readings, and activities led by acclaimed authors, publishers, and activists.
For a glimpse into the FutureVerse schedule, visit our website. Selection was based on an application and poetry evaluation, including submissions of original poems to VOICES/VOIX, our student poetry journal, or entries to the Voices/Voix Monthly Prize, our monthly poetry contest. Click on each participant’s name to read one of their poems and learn more about them.
2025 FUTUREVERSE PARTICIPANTS
- Harmony Chen, St. Robert Catholic High School, Thornhill, ON
- Natalia Comeau, Charles P. Allen High School, Bedford, NS
- Charles Demers, École Polyvalente des Îles, l'Étang-du-Nord, QC
- Jérémie English, École Secondaire Jules-Verne, Vancouver, BC
- Jonah Harris, Oskāyak High School, Saskatoon, SK
- Shaza Khattab, Halifax West High School, Halifax, NS
- Konstantine Lamouelle, Harry Ainlay School, Edmonton, AB
- Sarah-Jeanne Leclerc, Collège André-Grasset, Montréal, QC
- Julia Li, University of Toronto Schools, Toronto, ON
- Rizwan Moonbow, École Panorama Ridge Secondary School, Surrey, BC
- Stacy Ogbuehi, NorKam Senior Secondary School, Kamloops, BC
- Amy Savciuc, All Saints High School, Calgary, AB
- Madeleine Semple, Martingrove Collegiate Institute, Etobicoke, ON
- Jacky Tang, St. George's School, Vancouver, BC
- Lilah Warren, Island Connected, Nanaimo, BC
- Teresa Wu, Bernice MacNaughton High School, Moncton, NB
About Poetry In Voice/Les voix de la poésie
Founded by Scott Griffin, Chairman and Founder of the illustrious Griffin Trust For Excellence In Poetry, Poetry In Voice/Les voix de la poésie encourages all Canadians to speak the language of poetry. They are the essential resource for teaching and learning poetry in Canada — and beyond. The organization started by hosting a recitation contest with 12 schools in Ontario in 2010 and has since become “a cultural force in Canada,” according to Margaret Atwood.
Every year, the organization hosts two national recitation contests (one for students in Grades 10-12, and another for students in Grades 7-9) and a dozen regional team recitation contests. These contests rely on robust online anthologies of classic and contemporary poems in English and French. The organization also publishes an annual bilingual journal of student poetry, VOICES/VOIX, with issue #7 to be released next September.
Their website also includes comprehensive teaching materials, and to date Poetry In Voice/Les voix de la poésie has sent poets to more than 2,500 classrooms to work with over 75,000 students through their Poet In Class/Poètes à l’école program.
Media Contact
For all media enquiries, including interviews with the finalists, the FutureVerse participants or with Poetry In Voice/Les voix de la poésie, please contact:
- Ariane Tapp, e: ariane@lesvoixdelapoesie.ca
- Nicole Magas, e: nicole@zgstories.com, c: 778.697.1394