Hello! First of all, we are very sorry if you were hoping to recite a poem for one of our contests, only to discover it is ineligible (and yes, this includes Team Regionals as well as our Online Contests and National Finals). Why didn't we just remove the poem from the anthology? Well, we still think the poem is worth reading. And if you are reading this page, you probably agree!
So if it’s worth reading, why isn’t it in the recitation contest? There are several reasons we may restrict poems from the recitation contest
- The publishers haven’t given us permission to film or record readings of the poem, so we cannot include them in our contests.
- The poem has been recited too often at our contests, and we want to share the love with other poems!
- The poem has problematic content or language, or may be interpreted in ways the poet may not have intended. The poem is certainly still worth reading and discussing, but in a recitation contest context, in Canadian schools, our editorial board have decided the benefits of reciting the poem are outweighed by the potential harms.
We hope you understand and find another poem that you want commit to memory and share aloud!