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Age guideline 13+
About the event
Join Canadian award-winning poets and activists Kelisha Daley, Martin Gomes, Khiem Hoang, Shahaddah Jack and Zara Rahman for an empowering presentation of the power of performance. In lively conversation with Desiree Mckenzie, they’ll share the tools you'll need to create your own poetry and writing, and the necessary techniques to reflect the challenges and change you’d like to inspire in the world around you.
All presenters are mentees of the iAM Programme: a youth-led arts and social justice mentorship for equity-seeking youth in Canada aged 12–26.
Presented in partnership with Toronto International Festival of Authors and JAYU.
How to access the event
From 1 January 2022, this event will move to our collection of Past Event Videos where you can access all past festival events for a small one-off fee of £5. Go to the top of the page to view Past Event Videos. Please click here to sign up or log in if you are already a member.
Teacher Resources
This is a peer-to-peer programme with an intention of giving space to young people to explore ideas of identity, place and future promise. It is about empowerment through voice and how to turn voice into action. The intention is to show that the political and the personal intersect.
The Reading is Magic content is here to be explored over several lessons or to be watched and enjoyed as a complete performance. There are ideas from the young presenters of ways to use poetry to give voice to concerns. There are tips on getting going with writing and performance as well as individual stories of why poetry, writing and speaking aloud have been so important for wellbeing, confidence and a defined sense of self.
The full performance lasts an hour however it can be watched in episodes over several lessons as below:
Introduction
Desiree Mckenzie describes the event, the context and how poetry can be used to explore aspects of self and the world we live in.
Performance 1: Shahaddah Jack
17 year old activist, female, person of colour. Explores how ‘our pain is our strength in activism’. Established the first Black student association in her school that aims to educate other students about the value of the arts.
Intro: 6:17
Performance: 8:14
Performance 2: Khiem Hoang
Writer, community facilitator, musician. His writing questions our perceptions of our realities and is all about improving the human condition.
Intro: 19:45
Performance: 20:26
Performance 3: Kelisha Daley
Actor, writer, designer, poet and filmmaker. She is a creator of stories that are not often seen in film. She combines, in film, music and poetry to create key, personal moments.
Intro: 30:01
Performance: 31:18
Performance 4: Martin Gomes
Recent graduate with a BA in Music. Is lead of his band Juicebox, beatboxer, writer, model. His aim is to develop a space for him and his homies to live life at their own pace.
Intro: 40:13
Performance: 40:56
Performance 5: Zara Rahman
Spoken word artist, community leader and creator of a global digital platform to support youth across the world. Her aim is to be a Human Rights lawyer.
Intro: 50:00
Performance: 51:24
About the Authors and Artists
Khiem Hoang (He/They) is a writer, community facilitator, researcher in training, and wannabe musician with an obsession for shawarma and counterculture. His work seeks to question our realities and ponder radical possibilities. He cares deeply about celebrating a multiplicity of perspectives, improving our conditions, and being “heavy metal” (whatever that means). You can find him trawling thrift stores and shilling obscure artists.
Desiree Mckenzie (she/her) is an award-winning poet, photographer, and Program Coordinator for JAYU from Toronto. Her poetry has been featured in CBC’s Poetic License series, VIBE Arts NExT Exhibit, and Clearco Financials’ International Women’s Day Campaign. In 2020, she was awarded the JAYU iAM Arts for Human Rights Award recognizing creatives doing exceptional work where the arts and human rights intersect. Her newfound passion for photography has been featured in projects for The Bentway and ResilienTOgether. In March 2021, she released her EP of spoken word, Wet Hair, now available on streaming platforms.
Born and raised in Toronto with a diverse cultural background that grounds her in her poetry and life is 17-year-old writer, poet, believer in self-evolution and student activist, Shahaddah Jack (she/her). She uses the realities of her identity, including being a female and a person of colour, to create stories of art that connect with others and are used to teach one of her greatest beliefs in life, that your pain is your strength. Not only does she do this with her poetry, but conjointly with her activism as well. Shahaddah has shifted her school community by actualizing their first black students association, performing in class workshops and educating others on the value of the arts, especially poetry, along with many other initiatives. From as early as the tender age of 12 she's been featured in many showcases including, TDSBcreates, numerous RISE events, and many more. As her passion for poetry and knowledge on it continues to grow, she plans to help others actualize change with their art as well.
Zara Rahman (she/her) is a spoken word artist, nonprofit founder and community leader. Through written and spoken word poetry, Zara has shared stories with audiences up to 2000 and in more intimate settings. She has been featured on CBC news and the Toronto Star for her community involvement. Zara, founder of the international nonprofit organization, Youth Professionals (@youthprofessionals), created a platform to support BIPOC and LGBTQ+ youth all over the world through virtual opportunities. Recently, she was named the 2021 CBC news Community Champion award winner. In the future, Zara plans to pursue a career as a human rights attorney and continue writing poems whenever possible.
A poet by any other name should be called Kelisha Daley, who is adamant that life is romantic, even in its mundane-ness. Because of this Kelisha has been attracted to various creative mediums that are oriented in visual storytelling. At the age of 26, Kelisha is a emerging multidisciplinary artist: actor, writer, designer, and poet. Kelisha graduated Humber College in 2020 where she received three years of theatrical training in performative arts. With the help of her training, Kelisha has nurtured a drive to just create her own projects if the stories she yearns to see are not being told! Her short film, “The Bliss of Falling” produced with The And, Stages Company in 2020 is an example of how Kelisha uses music and poetry to create a playlist of life’s intimate moments. Vulnerable, rhythmic, and imaginative are words to describe this film, as well as her artistic signature. Her first self-produced film out of theater school, Where There Is Room to Bloom, was first showcased at the 2020 Rendezvous with Madness Festival. A festival that highlights mental health and awareness within a collection of films, artwork, and organized events. Her most recent projects as an actor have included, The Promotion (directed by Mike Regis) and Mismatch (directed by Tasha Gray), both from POV FILM alumni. An incredible Toronto organization, Kelisha will further her relationship with POV as a cohort in their 2021 en/Vision Lab program with her third self-produced project, “to mad women everywhere”, coming soon. Kelisha is committed to sharing a vision of her love affair with life, in hopes to heal the world around her. She can only hope you stay a while and be in for the journey.
Martin Gomes has recently obtained a Bachelors degree in Fine Arts at York University where he studied Music. Ringleader of his Band "JuiceBox" with whom he won the TIFF: Battle of the Scores competition in 2020. Beatboxer, musician, chorister, model, writer, and poet, he got hella characteristics to choose from. His goal is to develop a space where him and his homies can survive, thrive, and live their lives at their pace.
Twitter: @zararah
Instagram: @hereszara | shahaddahjack
About the festival partner
This event has been programmed by Toronto International Festival of Authors (TIFA).
The Toronto International Festival of Authors (TIFA) inspires and empowers book lovers with a breadth of bold, ambitious and accessible literary experiences. As Canada’s largest literary festival, the charitable organization provides engaging opportunities to meet, hear and learn from the world’s best contemporary writers and thinkers, and to celebrate the power of stories. Since 1974, TIFA has presented over 9,500 authors, including 22 Nobel Laureates, who represent diverse perspectives and a range of literary genres for all ages. TIFA's creative programmes continue to adapt to changing times, capturing the most innovative and enlightening forms of storytelling, on stage and online. Alongside the flagship Festival, TIFA delivers a year-round programme of events and activities that reflect Toronto to its residents, its literature to the nation, and its creative ambition to the world. TIFA will celebrate the 42nd edition of the Festival October 21–31, 2021.