For immediate release—April 29, 2026, 9am EDT
Quebec City (Quebec) — Nine exceptional students from across Canada received prizes totaling $30,000 during the Poetry in Voice National Finals, a national recitation contest, presented by The Hilary and Galen Weston Foundation. The event, held at the incredible Diamant theatre in Quebec City, was a brilliant showcase of the remarkable talent of the young participants in the French, English, and Bilingual Streams.
Celebrating Poetry in Voice’s 2026 National Finalists
The competition was extremely fierce, with the Finalists delivering captivating recitations by both classic and contemporary poets, such as Robert Creeley, Bronwen Wallace, Andrea Thompson, and Aja Monet.
Leading up to the National Finals, more than 10,000 students across the country participated in their school recitation contests as well as the Online Qualifiers. Of these, the top 24 advanced to the virtual Semifinals, after which 9 Finalists were invited to Quebec City to recite before an audience of nearly 600 people.
Hundreds of students from schools from the Quebec City, Lévis, and Portneuf areas, as well as from the Estrie and Lanaudière regions, gave a warm round of applause for each finalist’s impressive performance.
Judging and Hosting of the National Finals
The performance jury brought together poets Sue Goyette, Kaie Kellough, and Jónína Kirton to judge the English recitations, as well as Nora Atalla, Carol-Ann Belzil-Normand, and Jean Désy for the French recitations.
The event was hosted by poet, editor, and cultural mediator Vanessa Bell and was preceded by an exclusive concert by the Wendat band Anyma’Ora.
FutureVerse
FutureVerse, an intensive poetry workshop supported by the McCall MacBain Foundation, took place alongside the competition for the fourth consecutive year. This four-day event brought together 16 young poets to hone their craft by participating in workshops and engaging in discussions with prominent figures in the literary world, such as Sue Goyette, Kaie Kellough, Jónína Kirton, Stéphanie Filion, Andrée Lévesque-Sioui, and Jean Désy.
Winners of the 2026 National Finals
Without further ado, the winners of the Poetry in Voice 2026 National Finals are:
French Stream
French Stream
- Juliette Iezzoni, Collège Mont-Saint-Louis, Montreal, QC wins the first place prize of $5,000 (centre)
- Myriam Desgagnés, Cégep du Vieux-Montréal, Montreal, QC wins the second place prize of $3,000 (right)
- Kristy Murangwa, École Alexandre-Taché, St. Albert, AB wins the third place prize of $2,000 (left)
Bilingual Stream
- Cianna Rukundo, École secondaire Étienne-Brûlé, North York, ON, wins the first place prize of $5,000 (centre)
- Aïta Diop, Collège de Lévis, Lévis, QC, wins the second place prize of $3,000 (left)
- Catherine Ji, University of Toronto Schools, Toronto, ON, wins the third place prize of $2,000 (right)
English Stream
- Amelia King, Little Flower Academy, Vancouver, BC, wins the first place prize of $5,000 (centre)
- Frederick Chan, Vancouver Christian School, Vancouver, BC, wins the second place prize of $3,000 (left)
- Melody Ovuakporoyecha, St. Malachy’s Memorial High School, Saint John, NB, wins the third place prize of $2,000 (right)
Full Broadcast
The full broadcast of the National Finals is available to watch on the Poetry in Voice website.
About Poetry in Voice
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 information, questions, and interviews with Finalists, FutureVerse participants, or with Poetry in Voice, reach out to Julie Morin at julie@commjulie.com.