Tuesday April 3rd, 2012
Watch the Slideshow
On the evening of Monday, April 2nd, in Montreal, an audience of poets, poetry lovers, teachers, students, and parents met at La Maison Théâtre to watch the Poetry In Voice Quebec finalists recite poetry. All of the competitors were excellent; the judges had their work cut out for them in choosing a winner. The finalists recited poems by Shakespeare, Rimbaud, Gaston Miron, Erin Mouré, and others. One of the highlights of the evening was when a young finalist recited “Au bout du quai...” by Andrée Lacelle, while the poet herself was seated in the audience.
Pierre Nepveu, the editor of the Poetry In Voice anthology in French, was there and was delighted to see so many young people mastering the age-old art of poetry recitation. Guy Marchamps, also a poet, hosted the evening with humour and lively support for the young finalists.
The panel of judges included France Boisvert, Catherine Lalonde, Bronwen Low, Jeanne Painchaud, Sina Queyras, and Carmine Starnino, all poets or poetry scholars. The high quality of the recitations made it difficult for them to choose a single winner.
Eve Mangin of Collège Lionel-Groulx won first prize and $1,000 as well as $500 for the library of Lionel-Groulx for the purchase of poetry books. Eve and second- and third-place winners Liana Cusmano from Vincent Massey Collegiate and Josh Cape from Selwyn House will all travel to Toronto to take part in the Grand Finals on April 17th. We wish them good luck and look forward to watching them perform in Toronto!