For immediate release — 11 am EDT, March 19, 2026
MONTREAL, QC – Poetry in Voice/Les voix de la poésie is excited to announce the 9 National Finalists of its prestigious senior poetry recitation contest, along with the 16 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 took on the challenge of reciting poems from the Poetry in Voice/Les voix de la poésie online anthology from memory. Students in Grades 10–12 competed for top honours in the Senior Online Qualifiers in the English, French, and Bilingual streams.
$40,000 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, one each in English and in French, winning $500. Another $30,000 awaits our best reciters at our upcoming National Finals, a prize increase made possible thanks to our new presenting supporter, The Hilary and Galen Weston Foundation.
NATIONAL FINALS
Without further ado, here are our nine National Finalists for 2026!
English Stream
- Frederick Chan, Vancouver Christian School, Vancouver, BC
- Amelia King, Little Flower Academy, Vancouver, BC
- Melody Ovuakporoyecha, St. Malachy’s Memorial High School, Saint John, NB
Bilingual Stream
- Aïta Diop, Collège de Lévis, Lévis, QC
- Catherine Ji, University of Toronto Schools, Toronto, ON
- Cianna Rukundo, École Secondaire Étienne-Brûlé, Toronto, ON
French Stream
- Myriam Desgagnés, Cégep du Vieux Montréal, Montréal, QC
- Juliette Lezzoni, Collège Mont St-Louis, Montréal, QC
- Kristy Murangwa, École Alexandre-Taché, St-Albert, AB
These nine finalists will showcase their talents live during the 2026 Poetry in Voice National Finals at Quebec City’s Le Diamant on April 28. The event will also be available to stream for free 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 Quebec City, hosted by local poet and editor Vanessa Bell.
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 6,700 votes on our website, allowing viewers to choose their two favourite recitations, one in French and one in English, among the 24 Semifinalists.
Congratulations to the winners of the People’s Choice Award:
- Aeyla Antique, St. John’s High School, Winnipeg, MB, for their outstanding English recitation of “I’ve Dreamt of You So Often” by Robert Desnos
- Taonsa Angéla Boudo, École Secondaire Marcellin-Champagnat, Saint-Jean-sur-Richelieu, QC for their exceptional French recitation of “J’abdique tout” by Jovette Bernier
Each winner has been awarded an additional $500. Their winning performances, along with the other Semifinalist recitations, can be viewed by clicking on the links above.
FUTUREVERSE
Alongside the National Finals in Quebec City, 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 professional authors, publishers, and artists.
For a glimpse into the FutureVerse schedule, visit our website. Participant selection was based on the quality of the applications submitted, including the original poems submitted to our student poetry journal VOICES/VOIX and entries to the VOICES/VOIX Monthly Poetry Prize. Click on each participant’s name to read one of their poems and learn more about them.
2026 FUTUREVERSE PARTICIPANTS
- Kaniq Allerton, École Secondaire Kelvin High School, Winnipeg, MB
- Naré Armenian, Collège Ste-Marcelline, Montréal, QC
- Camille Audette, Cégep de L’Outaouais – Campus Gabrielle-Roy, Gatineau, QC
- Vanessa Chen, Crofton House School, Vancouver, BC
- Mythili Garikiparthi, École Riverside Secondary School, Port Coquitlam, BC
- Eloise Gibbens, École Secondaire Sentinel Secondary School, West Vancouver, BC
- Rose Haberer, Central Toronto Academy, Toronto, ON
- Emma Rose Hawkins, Bellerose Composite High School, St. Albert, AB
- Madelyn Hook, Loyalist Collegiate & Vocational Institute, Kingston, ON
- Japleen Joshi, Aurora Academic Charter High School, Edmonton, AB
- Hortense Léon, Collège Jésus-Marie de Sillery, Québec, QC
- Evans N’Goran, École Maurice-Lavallée, Edmonton, AB
- Archie Shah, Woburn Collegiate Institute, Scarborough, ON
- Nadine Telesford, Martingrove Collegiate Institute, Etobicoke, ON
- Poppy Walsh, Sacred Heart School of Halifax, Halifax, NS
- Finn Ye, Richmond Secondary School, Richmond, BC
FUTUREVERSE PEOPLE’S CHOICE AWARD
The new FutureVerse People’s Choice Award, presented to both the English and French poet whose poem received the most votes, was a resounding success, with nearly 4,300 votes cast!
Congratulations to the winners :
- Harper Swan, Bishop Carroll High School, Calgary, AB, for their poem “Falter”
- Monica Kelada, Collège Ste-Marcelline, Montreal, QC, for their poem in French “Achillée Millefeuille”
Each winner has been awarded an additional $500. You can read their original poems by clicking on the links above.
About Poetry in Voice/Les voix de la poésie
Founded by Scott Griffin, chairman and founder of The 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 #8 to be released next September.
Their website includes comprehensive teaching materials, and, to date, Poetry in Voice/Les voix de la poésie has sent poets into over 2,800 classrooms to work with over 80,000 students through their Poets in Class/Poètes à l’école program.
MEDIA CONTACT
For all media enquiries, including interviews with the Finalists and the FutureVersers, contact Ariane Tapp, Co-Executive Director, at ariane@lesvoixdelapoesie.ca.