Yes, April is Poetry Month and it flourished in Quebec City this year! Poetry in Voice/Les Voix de la poésie came to town! This is a Canadian Association that trains youth to recite and perform contemporary and classical poetry, and also has a program, FutureVerse, with workshops for those wanting to write their own poetry.
This year, from April 25th to the 29th, the Poetry in Voice students gathered in Quebec City, obviously having a great time discovering the town and its poets through workshops, “Poetry Hunts” and readings leading up to the Finals.
Colleague Nora Atalla and I hosted a Poetry Hunt at La Librairie Pantoute where we welcomed 5 different teams who had to find and read some of our poetry. Much fun and an easy way to get to know their voices.
These youth were so invigorating and showed such a natural ease in collaboration as well as commitment to their work! The generous, intelligently appropriate and caring support and training they receive from the association is thoroughly admirable. It was a joy spending these few days with them.
And an intense delight listening to each competitor. Yes, the busy days culminated in the 2026 National Finals held at Robert Le Page’s gorgeous theatre, Le Diamant on the 28th. I was thrilled to have been invited to join the judges’ team as a precision judge, and participate in the judges reading as well. It was a tremendously enjoyable and heartening afternoon at Le Diamant hearing the young poets perform in three categories: French, Bilingual and English. See the winners in the links below!
I must mention my gratitude to Ariane Tapp (Quebec City) and Amanda Merpaw (Toronto) and the whole staff for such impeccable organisation! Every year the Finals are hosted in a different Canadian city, but it’s worth making a special trip to hear these young performers.
Long live Poetry in Voice/Les voix de la poésie!
Lien vers le communiqué de presse :
https://lesvoixdelapoesie.ca/…/annonce-des-gagnantes-de…