A St. Albert student will bring her passion for poems to Calgary later this month as she seeks the top prize in a national poetry recitation contest.
École Alexandre-Taché Grade 11 student Hope Anaky was recently announced as one of the nine national finalists set to compete at the 2023 Poetry in Voice senior poetry recitation contest in Calgary this April 20.
Poetry in Voice is a non-profit that seeks to promote poetry in Canadian schools through the national contest, said executive director David Smith.
“We want to promote students to write poetry, but to be great writers of poetry, you have to be great readers of poetry,” he said.
This year’s contest saw some 20,000 students from across Canada memorize and recite poems in school-based competitions. Twenty-four advanced to the semi-finals, where the top nine were picked to proceed to the national final. This year’s nationals — the first to be held live and in person in three years — will be at the Calgary Central Public Library April 20, where competitors will have to recite three poems from memory before a panel of judges and some 400 guests.
Smith said competitors will be judged based on their voice, interpretation, performance and other factors. Top performers will receive $3,000 and a crystal trophy.
Anaky is one of the three Edmonton-area students competing at nationals this year. Smith said Akaky’s presence is especially impressive as she was competing in the French category, which is usually dominated by students from Quebec.
Alexandre-Taché teacher Marie-Christine Bérubé-Lajoie said this is the first time anyone from their school has reached nationals in this contest.
“Not many students are able to draw the feelings from the words they read,” she said, but Anaky can do so intuitively.
Passion for poems
Bérubé-Lajoie described Anaky as studious and active with the school’s choir and debate clubs.
“She is always eager to participate in every project.”
Anaky, who lives in Edmonton, said she got into poetry through her love of literature.
“It’s very individual, poetry,” she said.
“The way you read it, nobody can say you’re wrong.”
Anaky said she practised her poems frequently in preparation for the contest, committing them to memory after reading them on her phone. While it was stressful to perform in front of a crowd, Anaky said her biggest challenge was conveying the right emotions.
For example, Patrice Desbiens’s Ma mère me jongle, which Anaky plans to recite at nationals, is about the author’s struggle to deal with the death of his mother.
“My biggest fear would be my mother’s death,” Anaky said, so she tries to channel those emotions into her performance.
A video clip shared with the Gazette of Anaky reciting this poem shows how she uses facial expressions, gestures, pauses, and other mannerisms to portray the emotional struggles inherent in the piece.
“At the end (of the poem), I have to feel like I want to cry because my mother is dead,” Anaky said.
Bérubé-Lajoie said poetry is a great way to help students express themselves, practise critical thinking, and connect with French culture.
Anaky encouraged students to get into poetry as a way to express themselves.
“Us teenagers, we are in a very particular part of our lives, and I think writing and reading would be very beneficial for mental health,” she said.
The national finals run from 7 to 9 p.m. April 20. Visit poetryinvoice.ca for a livestream of the event.
