Events & Workshops

Join us for an evening of celebration of poetry and spoken word with three western Canadian Youth Poet Laureates: Saskatchewan’s Peace Akintade, the City of Edmonton’s Timiro Mohamed and the City of Victoria’s Neko Smart. Hosted by Dash Reimer, these three poets will share their words and thoughts about what it’s like to be a young poet in Canada.

This event is open to everyone, regardless of age or what you write. It will be recorded and available on the SWG's Youtube channel after the event.

Register through Zoom here: https://us02web.zoom.us/webinar/register/WN_O7ikxCaBQzmEgWaomTXkkA

Peace Akintade is an African Canadian Poet, Public Speaker, and Thespian residing in Saskatoon Saskatchewan. Saskatchewan Youth Poet Laurate, Co-coordinator of Write Out Loud, a Saskatoon-based Youth Poetry Community, and board member of the Tonight it's Poetry Community. Part of the Youth Speaker’s Bureau for the Office of the Treaty Commissioner. An active member of the Truly Alive Youth and Family Foundation Inc [TAYFFI] as a Youth spokesperson. Her poems touch on the impact of slavery in her village, colorism, growing up in Kuwait, Nigeria, and Canada, and relearning her culture in the face of colonization.  

Timiro Mohamed is an award-winning Somali-Canadian spoken word poet based in Edmonton, Alberta.  Her practice is rooted in responsible storytelling, centers Black Femmes, and celebrates her many identities. She is passionate about creating platforms for BIPOC artists and as part of her tenure as the 2019-2020 City of Edmonton Youth Poet Laureate, she spearheaded a poetry mentorship program for young Black women. Timiro is one of the Poetry Editors for the literary magazine: The Drinking Gourd which highlights the voices of Black Muslim writers, she has competed nationally at the Canadian festival of spoken words and is the co-author of the chapbook Water.

Neko Smart is the current City of Victoria Youth Poet Laureate and the founder and the former captain turned coach of the Vic High Slam Poetry Team. Her passion for performance was developed through an active role in her local theatre community, where she realized the importance of self-expression through the arts. As Youth Poet Laureate, her goal is to emphasize the importance of cultivating open dialogues about mental health in order to reduce stigma and increase safety, particularly in youth.

Hosted by Dash Reimer.

Dash is an artist and educator within both hip hop and spoken word communities across Canada and North Africa. He has opened for Buddy Wakefield, written and performed a play at a Fringe Theatre Festival, toured through South Africa with a hip hop crew and won national youth spoken word competitions but his most favourite experience of all came when co-directing Saskatoon's youth spoken word scene for four years with some of his closest friends. Dash dabbles in baking, biking and making you feel some kinda way.