Host
Johanne Blais
Johanne Blais has hosted many Poetry In Voice/Les voix de la poésie National Finals since 2013 and also serves on our board. She is a trained translator and a retired professor of grammar and writing skills. Perfectly bilingual and a passionate admirer of the languages of both Shakespeare and Molière, Johanne Blais spent 17 years sharing her passion with thousands of Canadians as CBC Radio C’est la vie’s “Word Lady,” through her language segment “Word of the Week.”
Judges
Laurie Bédard
With a passion for poetry that began in her teenage years, Laurie Bédard obtained her bachelor's and master's degrees in French-language literature at the Université de Montréal. She recited her work at various poetry evenings before publishing for the first time in the magazine Estuaire in 2015. Her first collection, «Ronde de nuit», was published by Le Quartanier in 2016. With a rhythmic writing style, her preferred themes include memory within the body and the links between bodies, objects and places. Her second collection, «Les univers parallèles», was published by Le Quartanier in 2021. She has published short pieces in the pages of periodicals such as Espace art actuel, Estuaire and Bosquet. She brings her poetry, both finished and in progress, to life on the stage.
Michael Crummey
Michael Crummey's most recent novel, The Innocents, was short-listed for the ScotiaBank Giller Prize, the Governor-General's Award, and the Rogers Writers' Trust Fiction Prize. Little Dogs: New and Selected Poems was published by House of Anansi in the spring of 2016. His latest collection, Passengers, is due out with Anansi in August, 2022. He lives in St. John's.
Flavia Garcia
Originally from Buenos Aires, Argentina, Flavia Garcia teaches, writes, translates and sings in Quebec, her adopted country, where she has lived for over three decades. She holds a Master's degree in teaching French as a Second Language from McGill University and has also studied German language and Quebec literature. She is a regular contributor to the journals Exit and Estuaire, where she has published both her own poems and poems in translation. She has translated more than 30 poets into French or Spanish, including Luise Dupré, Denise Desautels, Laure Morali, Martine Audet, Violaine Forêt, José Acquelin and Sylvain Campeau. As an author, she has published two collections: Partir et mourir un peu plus loin (Mémoire d'encrier, 2016) and Fouiller les décombres (Mémoire d'encrier, 2021). She has also translated l'Anthologie de poésie argentine contemporaine (Triptych, 2017). She is involved with the organization La poésie partout and, for the past 14 years, has hosted the trilingual Lapalabrava poetry evenings. She is interested in questions of identity, one's inner journey, dreams, multilingualism, multiculturalism, and poetry for children.
Fiona Tinwei Lam
Vancouver's 6th Poet Laureate, Fiona Tinwei Lam has published three collections of poetry and a children’s book. Her poems have been featured in Best Canadian Poetry, in the League of Canadian Poets’ Poem in Your Pocket program, and thrice with BC’s Poetry in Transit, as well as in award-winning poetry videos made in collaboration with filmmakers that have screened worldwide. She edited The Bright Well: Contemporary Canadian Poems about Facing Cancer, and co-edited two nonfiction anthologies. Shortlisted for the City of Vancouver Book Prize and other awards, her work has been included in over 40 anthologies. fionalam.net
Baron Marc-André Lévesque
Baron Marc-André Lévesque's poetry is rooted in a fantastical imagination, where the author is not afraid to mix mythological figures and popular references with an unconventional approach to language. The phrase "Ça finit de même" ("That's how it ends") marks the end of several of his poems. His first poetry collection, Chasse aux licornes, was nominated for the Prix des libraires.
Brandon Wint
Brandon Wint is a poet, spoken word artist and teacher who is devoted to the articulation of the beauty within the human condition. His intricately-rendered performance pieces present a passionate, sincere and whimsical version of humanity. His writing, performance, and pedagogical approach all affirm, in their different ways, that there is beauty to be found in the struggle, and solace to be found in sincerity-of-spirit. He is an artist who uses poetry to harness empathy within himself, and have each of his words, deeds, creations and performances reflect that empathy unambiguously. He is a two-time national champion slam poet, a nationally published writer, as well as an arts-educator and a curator of artistic events. His favourite poets are Dionne Brand, Ross Gay, and Aracelis Girmay.