The Words & Music Show: The 2025 Ian Ferrier Spoken Word Prize Finalists

Liana Cusmano (Luca/BiCurious George) is a three-time Montreal Slam Champion and 2019 Canadian Individual Poetry Slam Championship runner-up. Their novel Catch & Release was published by Guernica Editions in 2022. They were a finalist for the 2022 QWF Spoken Word Prize and winner of the 2024 Society Pages Poetry Contest. 

Octavie Doherty-Haigh is a poet, actor, and tree planter. Her work explores topics of neurodivergence, eating disorder recovery, and mental illness through the lens of love. Based in Montreal, she is currently earning her BFA in theatre acting at Concordia University.

A self-titled Jamhaitianadian, Kym Dominique-Ferguson is a Montreal spoken word artist. Through Madpoetix Productions’ curated events like Inside Madpoetix Studios, Ferguson shines a spotlight on Montreal Artists. He has been a slam team member at the Canadian Festival of Spoken Word multiple times, and his poetry appears in The Great Black North anthology.

Rachel McCrum’s debut collection The First Blast to Awaken Women Degenerate was translated by Jonathan Lamy and published in a bilingual edition with Mémoire d’encrier in 2020. With Amélie Prévost, she is the co-author and co-performer of La Belle-mère / The Stepmother (L’Hexagone, 2024). Rachel is the vocalist for Pigs&Wolves.

Robin Warren (aka Rusty) is a spoken word artist in Montreal, educated at Concordia University in Aerospace Engineering. He represented Montreal at the 2024 Canadian Individual Poetry Slam, ranking as a finalist. Recently, he performed at the 2025 Fringe Festival and is now a co-host at the Throw Poetry Collective.

Claire Sherwood is a Montreal writer, visual poet, and oral storyteller. Her poetry has appeared in Kola Magazine, carte blanche, Helios, and Lantern. Her chapbook Eat Your Words was published in 2024 by Turret House Press. She has appeared at Confabulation and the storytelling edition of QWF’s Words and Music Show.

Romel Sylne Jr, Haitian-American poet and author of five collections, writes at the crossroads of identity, resilience, and belonging. His words echo with heritage and heart, offering readers both solace and strength while transforming adversity into art that lingers long after the page is turned.

Svens Telemaque is an author, spoken-word artist, and social entrepreneur whose literary work and community leadership illuminate the power of narrative to heal and elevate. His debut book, Pen of a Ready Writer Vol. 1 (2014), challenges conventional perceptions of circumstance, faith, and emotion, inviting readers to explore nuance from cradle to grave.