9 Canadian students place in $18K national poetry recitation competition
More than 10,000 students across the country participated in the 2025 Poetry in Voice competition
Nine Canadian students have reached the top of the annual 2025 Poetry In Voice competition, beating out more than 10,000 students in a national poetry performance challenge that awards prizes of $1,000 to $3,000.
The finalists competed in a series of meets — school contests, the online qualifiers and the semifinals — before reaching the finals held at the Centre Theatre for Performing Arts Vancouver.
Isabella Torres Rangel from Calgary, Zak Tucker from Vancouver and Yasmine Aouchiche from Montreal won first prize in their categories — English, bilingual and French, respectively. Each of them received $3,000.
Heart Barabad from Winnipeg, Nour Snani from Mississauga, Ont. and Omar Elbatouty from Toronto, came in second place in their categories. Each received $2,000.
Annabel Wood from Gatineau, Que., Margot Cadrin from Pierrefonds, Que. and Victor Dubé-Marcus from Gatineau, Que., received third prize. They each won $1,000.
The finalists recited poetry from Susan Musgrave, Lorna Crozier, Elizabeth Brewster and Phoebe Wang.
The finalists' recitations were judged by a jury of poets; Wayde Compton, Evelyn Lau and Jane Munro for the English recitations; Stéphane Despatie, Louise Dupré and Nadine Ltaif for the French recitations.
The competition was established in 2010 by Scott Griffin, chairman and founder of the Griffin Trust for Excellence In Poetry.
If you are interested in poetry prizes, the 2025 CBC Poetry Prize is open April 1 - June 1.
You can submit an original, unpublished poem or collection of poems. The submission will be judged as a whole and must be a maximum of 600 words (including titles). There is no minimum word requirement.
The winner will receive $6,000 from the Canada Council for the Arts, a two-week writing residency at Banff Centre for Arts and Creativity and have their work published on CBC Books.
