A poet laureate is a poet officially appointed by a government or conferring institution, typically expected to compose poems for special events and occasions. Albertino Mussato of Padua and Francesco Petrarca (Petrarch) of Arezzo were the first to be crowned poets laureate after the classical age, respectively in 1315 and 1342. In Britain, the term dates from the appointment of Bernard André by Henry VII of England. The royal office of Poet Laureate in England dates from the appointment of John Dryden in 1668.
Scarborough is a district of Toronto, Ontario, Canada. It is situated atop the Scarborough Bluffs in the eastern part of the city. Its borders are Victoria Park Avenue to the west, Steeles Avenue and the city of Markham to the north, Rouge River and the city of Pickering to the east, and Lake Ontario to the south. Scarborough was named after the English town of Scarborough, North Yorkshire, inspired by its cliffs.
Patricia Penn Anne Kemp, better known simply as Penn Kemp, is a Canadian poet, novelist, playwright, and sound poet who lives in London, Ontario. Kemp has been publishing her writing since 1972 and was London's first poet laureate, serving since 2010 to 2013.
d’bi.young anitafrika is a Jamaican-Canadian feminist dub poet, activist, and singer for the band D’bi and the 333. Their work includes theatrical performances, four published collections of poetry, twelve plays, and seven albums.
Bruce Meyer is a Canadian poet, broadcaster, and educator. He has authored more than 64 books of poetry, short fiction, non-fiction, and literary journalism. He is a professor of Writing and Communications at Georgian College in Barrie and a Visiting Associate at Victoria College at the University of Toronto, where he has taught Poetry, Non-Fiction, and Comparative Literature.
Lorna Gaye Goodison CD is a Jamaican poet, essayist and memoirist, a leading West Indian writer, whose career spans four decades. She is now Professor Emerita, English Language and Literature/Afroamerican and African Studies at the University of Michigan, previously serving as the Lemuel A. Johnson Professor of English and African and Afroamerican Studies. She was appointed Poet Laureate of Jamaica in 2017, serving in the role until 2020.
The Canadian Parliamentary Poet Laureate is the national poet laureate of Canada. The current poet laureate is Marie-Célie Agnant.
Dr. Norman Bethune Collegiate Institute is a high school in Toronto, Ontario, Canada. It is located in the Steeles neighbourhood of the former suburb of Scarborough. It was founded in 1979 and named after Norman Bethune, a Canadian doctor and communist who served under the Eighth Route Army. The school is attended by over 1000 students, most of whom speak a primary language other than English, the language of instruction. Bethune is also partners with the neighbouring senior's homes: Mon Sheong and Tendercare, and with Beijing#15 High School in Beijing, People's Republic of China.
Existere - Journal of Arts & Literature is a Canadian magazine that publishes twice a year through York University's Writing Department in Toronto, Ontario, Canada. The magazine publishes poetry, short stories, articles, book reviews, essays, interviews, art, photography from contributors around the world.
The Canadian Festival of Spoken Word is an annual festival produced by Spoken Word Canada and planned by a local Festival Organizing Committee in each host city.
Dwayne Morgan is a Canadian spoken word artist, motivational speaker and event organizer based in Toronto, Ontario.
Tawiah Ben M'Carthy is a Ghanaian-born Canadian actor and playwright. He is best known for his 2012 play Obaaberima, a one-man play about growing up gay in Ghana.
Wali Shah is a Canadian speaker, poet, musician and philanthropist. He has spoken most prominently on topics including bullying, mental health and social change, while creating spoken word poetry specifically tailored to his projects and engagements.
The Danzig Street shooting, or Danzig shooting, was a gang-related shooting that occurred on the evening of 16 July 2012 at a block party on Danzig Street in the West Hill neighbourhood of Toronto, Canada. Rival gang members Folorunso Owusu, 17, and Nahom Tsegazab, 19, along with an unidentified third gunman, opened fire in a crowd of two hundred people. This resulted in the deaths of Joshua Yasay and Shyanne Charles, and the injury of twenty-four others, making it the worst mass shooting in Toronto.
Ahmed Ali, better known by the pseudonym Knowmadic, is a Somali-Canadian poet, writer, actor, musician, and youth activist.
The Poet Laureate of Ontario is the poet laureate for the province of Ontario in Canada. The position was established in 2019 as an office of the Legislative Assembly of Ontario in honour of musician and writer Gord Downie.
La Mar C. Taylor is a Canadian artist, creative director, and entrepreneur. He is the co-founder of XO Records, and the creative director for the label's primary artist, singer the Weeknd. He is also the co-founder of the incubator HXOUSE. He was first recognized for creating the cover for the Weeknd's debut mixtape, House of Balloons, in 2011.
Wendy Motion Brathwaite is a Canadian musician, writer and activist from Toronto, Ontario. She is most noted as cowriter with Charles Officer of the screenplay for the 2020 film Akilla's Escape, for which they won the Canadian Screen Award for Best Original Screenplay at the 9th Canadian Screen Awards in 2021.
FreeUp! The Emancipation Day Special is an annual Canadian television special, which was broadcast for the first time by CBC Gem on August 1, 2020. Growing out of an arts festival created by actress Ngozi Paul in 2017, the special features musical, acting, dancing, comedy and spoken word performances by Black Canadian and Indigenous Canadian performing artists to celebrate Emancipation Day.
