The Ian Ferrier Spoken Word Prize is open to Quebec-based spoken word artists, storytelling artists, and literary performance artists working primarily in English in any form of performative writing, including poetry, story, monologue, hip hop, dub, sound poetry, experimental or interdisciplinary work.
Launched in 2022 as the QWF Spoken Word Prize, the prize was renamed in 2023 in honour of Ian Ferrier, the founder and curator of the monthly Words & Music Show for 20 years.
2026 call for submissions
Submissions to the 2026 QWF Awards are now open. The deadline to complete your submission form and pay the submission fees is June 3, 2026, 5:00 p.m. ET for the book prizes and July 8, 2026, 5:00 p.m. for the Spoken Word Prize.
Read call for submissions2025
Winner
shortlisted
Jury
Joseph Dandurand
John David Hickey
El Jones
2024
Winner
shortlisted
Jury
Jason Camlot
Roen Higgins
Janice Jo Lee
2023
Winner
shortlisted
Jury
Jillian Christmas
Kym Dominique-Ferguson
Sheri-D Wilson
2022
then known as The QWF Spoken Word PrizeWinner
Special Thanks
