Raising their voices for poetry
National spotlight falls on students taking part in Poetry in Voice
It started with a love of poetry born from a family’s tradition of reading verse aloud. It’s become a national competition that introduces the joys of reciting to more than 50,000 Canadian students each year.
And, for three young people, this is the year they won $5,000 by winning Poetry in Voice: Enzo Campa from Windsor, Ont.’s Assumption College won the English stream; Marie Foolchand from Ecole Secondaire Etienne-Brule in Toronto won the Bilingual stream; and Juliette Rolland Apergis of College Jean-de-Brebeuf in Montreal who won the French stream. But it’s a long road to that national stage.
The Poetry In Voice competition works like this: students choose 3 poems, one of which must be under 25 lines and one of which must have been written before the 20th Century. They must memorize the poems and recite them publicly — they compete first in their schools, then their regions and the most talented make it to the nationals. The finals took place earlier this week at the Isabel Bader Theatre where the students recited the works they’d chosen in front of a panel of judges.
“Memorizing poetry is something all great writers historically participated in. It’s actually one of the best ways to get close enough to a poem to start to understand its layers,” said spokesperson Damian Rogers, who edits the anthology of poetry from which the students choose their pieces.
“With poetry, the message and the life of the poem is embedded in its language. It’s been remarkable watching the students develop these really strong relationships with the works they’re selecting,” she added.
The competition was founded in 2010, with a mere 12 schools in Ontario competing, growing quickly throughout the province and into Quebec.
Now, this sixth annual event features 39 national qualifiers drawn from 825 schools across the country and 50,000 students participating.
Even for those who don’t win, there are plenty of benefits. Tiffany Toussaint, 17, competed for the third time this year; when the Star spoke to her before the finals, she told us there’d been an unexpected side benefit: making new friends.
“I’m very excited. I’m able to meet students from all over Canada. There’s a Facebook page where we all stay in touch. So I have friends from P.E.I. and Newfoundland. It’s fun,” said the grade 11 student from Marshall McLuhan Catholic School in Toronto.
Vincent Valeri, a guidance counsellor at Marshal McLuhan, said it wasn’t that easy initially to get young people interested.
“Now we’ve got a wave of enthusiasm. Ultimately, students are learning about an art form intensely, poetry for poetry’s sake. They’ve become passionate about the word. In today’s day and age, I would say that’s refreshing,” Valeri said.
At least part of the reason is the competition brings real rewards beyond making new friends. There’s a $5,000 prize in the three categories, English, French and Bilingual with $1,000 going to second place and $500 for third.
Cash prizes are also awarded to the schools the winners represent for the purchase of library books and resources.
The prize money is provided by businessman and philanthropist Scott Griffin, who founded the Griffin Poetry Prize in 2001. It’s Canada’s richest poetry award with $65,000 going to each of two winners: one a living Canadian poet and the other from any country.
“He (Griffin) grew up reciting poetry and so for him, it’s a real key to understanding the pleasures of poetry and how a poem can live inside you forever,” Rogers said.
Timothy Tkachenko, 14, a grade 9 student at the Toronto French School who is competing for the first time, said poetry comes second to public speaking.
“I just like participating in events and the prize money is quite large so I’m intrigued by that,” Tkachenko said.
“I was doubting myself a lot and I thought I wasn’t good enough . . . but I’m a risk-taker and I just decided to do it,” said Tkachenko, who won the classroom, school-wide, regional semifinal and online semifinal contests to gain a berth in the national event.
“Even if I don’t win, it’s fine. It’s just a good experience to participate and my whole family and school are really proud of me,” he added.
Toussaint, who will recited a poem from former Toronto poet laureate Dionne Brand’s collected titled thirsty, describes the work as “very challenging — it’s very smart and she chooses the perfect words for the right feeling.”
Unlike Tkachenko, Toussaint still gets nervous reciting in front of a crowd. “It’s very nerve-wracking. But it helps when I just stand there and take a deep breath and the lights are blinding in your eyes so you can’t really see if anyone’s there, so it’s easier,” she said.
“Memorizing poetry is something all great writers historically participated in. It’s actually one of the best ways to get close enough to a poem to start to understand its layers,” DAMIAN ROGERS SPOKESPERSON POETRY IN VOICE