For immediate release — 13 pm EDT, May 16, 2025
Vancouver, BC - Nine remarkable students from across Canada have been awarded $18,000 at the 2025 Poetry In Voice/Les voix de la poésie National Finals. The event showcased incredible talent in English, French and Bilingual categories at the beautiful Centre Theatre for Performing Arts Vancouver.
Celebrating the 2025 Poetry In Voice National Champions
Competition was fierce with finalists delivering powerful recitations from classic and contemporary poets like Susan Musgrave, Lorna Crozier, Elizabeth Brewster and Phoebe Wang.
Leading up to the National Finals, over 10,000 students nationwide participated in school competitions and the Online Qualifiers. The top 24 then progressed in the Online Semifinals and the final nine were invited to Vancouver to perform in front of 1,500 people.
Hundreds of students from schools in the Vancouver region cheered as each finalist delivered amazing recitations. Classes also participated in poetry related activities in the morning: a poetry hunt, a visit of the Vancouver Art Gallery, a Chinese poetry walk in the Dr. Sun Yat-Sen Classical Chinese Garden, and a panel with celebrated poets Billy-Ray Belcourt, Cicely Belle Blain and Kevin Spenst.
Competition Jury and Hosts
Judging this year's competition were esteemed poets Wayde Compton, Evelyn Lau and Jane Munro for the English recitations and Stéphane Despatie, Louise Dupré and Nadine Ltaif for the French recitations. CBC's Johanne Blais and Vancouverite playwright Marcus Youssef hosted the event.
FutureVerse Poetry Intensive
The FutureVerse poetry intensive, sponsored by the MacCall McBain Foundation, was offered in conjunction with the competition for the third time. This four-day event sharpened the talents of 16 selected student poets, immersing them in workshops and discussions with literary luminaries such as Brandon Wint, Rita Wong, Isabella Wang, Rhea Tregebov and Catriona Strang.
2025 National Finals Champions
Here it is! The 2025 Poetry In Voice National Finals Champions are:
ENGLISH STREAM
- Isabella Torres Rangel, All Saints High School, Calgary, AB - First Prize: $3,000 (centre)
- Heart Barabad, Kildonan-East Collegiate, Winnipeg, MB - Second Prize: $2,000 (right)
- Annabel Wood, École Secondaire Mont-Bleu, Gatineau, QC - Third Prize: $1,000 (left)
BILINGUAL STREAM
- Zak Tucker, Eric Hamber Secondary School, Vancouver, BC - First Prize: $3,000 (centre)
- Nour Snani, Glenforest Secondary School, Mississauga, ON - Second Prize: $2,000 (right)
- Margot Cadrin, Collège Beaubois, Pierrefonds, QC - Third Prize: $1,000 (left)
FRENCH STREAM
- Yasmine Aouchiche, École Internationale de Montréal, Montréal, QC - First Prize: $3,000 (centre)
- Omar Elbatouty, École Secondaire Étienne-Brûlé, Toronto, ON - Second Prize: $2,000 (right)
- Victor Dubé-Marcus, Collège St-Alexandre de la Gatineau, Gatineau, QC - Third Prize: $1,000 (left)
LIVESTREAM
You can catch the whole show on our website.
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.
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 coordinates a dozen local team recitation contests every year. 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.
MEDIA CONTACT
For all media enquiries, including interviews with the finalists, the FutureVerse participants or with Poetry In Voice/Les voix de la poésie, contact Ariane Tapp at ariane@lesvoixdelapoesie.ca.