New for this year, 42 students will be named National Semifinalists by our Senior Online Qualifier judges. A second round of online judging will then determine the 9 students, 3 from each language stream, who will join us at our National Finals to be held in Montreal, April 15-17. In lieu of the pandemic, our hope is that by bringing less students to Nationals they will be safer and more realistic. If we do have to cancel Nationals we will hold an Online contest, like last year.
Prizes
This year’s 42 Semifinalists will each be awarded a $250 prize. There will also be a “People’s Choice” award of $500 for the best English and French poem recitation. Students will choose which poem they would like to enter into the People’s Choice award when they submit to the Online Qualifiers.
Finalists Prizes
In addition to the all-expenses paid trip to Montreal this April, National finalists will also win the following cash prizes:
1st place: $3,000 for the student, $1,000 for their school’s library ($500 reserved for poetry books)
2nd place: $2,000 for the student, $500 for poetry books for their school’s library
3rd place: $1,000 for the student, $250 for poetry books for their school’s library
2020 Online National Finals
On Friday, April 17, 2020 the top 9 student reciters from across Canada lifted poetry off the page and competed for over $35,000 in prizes in our first Online National Finals. COVID-19 forced the cancellation of our Montreal event, but all 24 students won cash prizes for their participation in the Online National Finals, and we hope to return to Montreal in 2021!
- Read about who won the Online Contest
- Meet the Semifinalists
- Meet the judges and hosts
Looking back at the 2019 National Finals in Winnipeg
Watch the Finals
- Read about who won in Winnipeg
- Meet the Semifinalists
- Meet the judges and hosts
Watch the English Semifinals
Watch the French & Bilingual Semifinals
Looking back at the 2018 National Finals in Toronto
The Awards Show:
The English Qualifiers:
The French & Bilingual Qualifiers:
Looking back at the 2017 National Finals in Vancouver
English Finals & Showcase
In this event hosted by Bill Richardson, the top 6 students from the English Stream Qualifiers competed for the prizes for themselves and their school libraries. The French and Bilingual winners from earlier in the day were also showcased.
French & Bilingual Finals
During this event hosted by Johanne Blais, six students in the French Stream and six in the Bilingual stream competed for the $5,000 grand prizes.
English Qualifiers
Hosted by former English Champion Roan Shankaruk, this competition features twelve high school students from across Canada reciting 3 poems from our anthology. The top 6 students advanced to our English Finals.
Resisting, Surviving, and Embracing: Nationhood and Identity on #Canada150
Poet Jordan Abel led a discussion among indigenous writers on the concepts of Canadian and Indigenous nationhood and the ways in which those ideas are expressed through poetry.