OUR POETSSeason 1
Our inaugural season brought together a powerful cohort of poets, from emerging voices to literary icons, transforming Toronto’s public transit into a moving gallery of words.
to all of the lightsNajwa Zebian
Najwa Zebian is a Lebanese-Canadian activist, author, speaker, and educator. She has a Doctorate in Educational Leadership. Since self-publishing her first collection of poetry and prose in 2016, Najwa has become an inspiration to millions worldwide and a trailblazing voice for women everywhere - featured in the New York Times, The Huffington Post, and CBS News, among others. She has published books of poetry and self-development that followed her journey of healing, building a home within, letting go of her conditioning and reinventing herself.
Growing old(er)Lillian Allen
The 7th Poet Laureate of Toronto, Lillian Allen is a professor of creative writing at OCAD University. Two-time Juno award winner and trailblazer in the field of spoken word and dub poetry, Allen artistically explores the aesthetics of old and new sounds in music to create her distinctive leading edge brand of Canadian reggae with new world sounds in her poetry recordings, with her powerful reggae dub poetry/spoken word recordings.
LOVE sPEAKd’bi.young anitafrika
Canadian Poet of Honour and Siminovitch Playwright Prize finalist d’bi.young anitafrika is at the culminating stage of their PhD on Black womxn’s decolonial theatre. Author of twelve plays, seven albums and five books, they recently published The Dubbin Series featuring two 25-year collections of plays and poetry. d’bi.young is celebrated for their powerful plays and transformative theatre practice rooted in dub poetry and decolonial praxis—winning three Dora awards and twelve nominations.
alt-springBritta B. (Poet in Residence)
Britta B. is an award-winning artist, public speaker, and poet living in Toronto. She is the author of the poetry collection and audiobook, Wires that Sputter. Britta holds an MFA in creative writing from the University of Guelph and teaches spoken word performance at Seneca College.
SEED CYCLEMartin Gomes
Martin Gomes (He/They) is an Afro/Latino, queer writer and composer based in Toronto. He currently works as an artist facilitator under the pseudonym 'Smooth' teaching poetry & beatboxing for several community arts organizations. He’s performed at several notable venues and events, including CBC, Harbourfront Centre, Nuit Blanche, and even at The Eagles’ Hotel California tour. With their art, he hopes to set an example of authenticity, empathy, and observation wherever possible, in an attempt to spread messages of loving each other's neighbours even through all the noise.
AFKAaGAFurqan Mohamed
Furqan Mohamed is a writer and educator from Toronto. Her work has appeared in Room Magazine, Maisonneuve, mimp magazine, Canthius, and The Local, where she was an inaugural Journalism Fellow. Her digital chapbook, “A Small Homecoming,” was published by Party Trick Press in the summer of 2021. Her latest artistic work includes an episode of “Dreams in Vantablack,” streaming now on CBC Gem and the creation of the “Who's Afraid?” reading series.
I TEXT MY LOVE AT OLD MILL STATIONAndrea Josic
Andrea Josic is a queer, Mad, Bosnian-Canadian poet, performer, journalist, and arts educator based in the GTA. She is a national award-winning poet and journalist with work published with Whippersnapper Gallery, Meridian Arts Centre, This Magazine, Xtra, Indie88, pulpMAG, and more. They were the champion of the 2020 Toronto Poetry Slam, co-champion of the 2019 Feminine Empowerment Movement Slam, and runner-up in the 2021 Canadian Individual Poetry Slam. In their roles as both an artist and educator in multiple arts community organizations, Andrea hopes to cultivate joy and healing in their work.
rEFLECTIONIkenna Onyegbula
Ikenna Alex Onyegbula is a poet, speaker, and arts educator, residing in Toronto. He is the 2014 World Poetry Slam champion, the 2014 Canadian Festival of Spoken Word Poet of Honour, a two-time Canadian Individual Poetry Slam champion, a two-time Canadian Festival of Spoken Word Slam champion, and the 2018 Rio International Poetry Slam champion. As a writer, Ikenna is featured in two national anthologies, and as an arts educator, Ikenna facilitates poetry workshops and cultivates safe artistic spaces for youth and adult poets alike.
footnotes for the toronto skyPujita Verma
Pujita Verma is an Indo-Canadian poet and illustrator. In 2023, she won literary arts awards from the League of Canadian Poets, Eden Mills Writer’s Festival, Mississauga Arts Council, and the University of Toronto School SCS. She was Mississauga’s Youth Poet Laureate (2018-2020) and a Poetry in Voice National Finalist.
song of shebaAdebe DeRango-Adem
Adebe DeRango-Adem is a writer and former attendee of the Jack Kerouac School of Disembodied Poetics (Naropa University), where she mentored with poets Anne Waldman and Amiri Baraka. She the author of four full-length poetry books to date. Her fourth and most recent collection, Vox Humana (Book*hug Press, 2022), won the 2023 Raymond Souster Award. Selections from Vox were developed into an original choral composition during her 2023 residency with the Choral Creation Lab, in collaboration with fellow resident composers and the Amadeus Choir of Toronto. “Aria Apocalypta,” a poem from her current and in-progress work, was longlisted for the 2023 CBC Poetry Prize.
I AM BOTHDr. Latif Murji
Dr. Latif Murji, a dynamic force uniting art and medicine, is a co-founder of Poems in Passage. As a practicing physician, lecturer at the University of Toronto, and founder of Stand Up for Health, Latif wears diverse and impactful hats. Beyond his medical pursuits, he channels creativity as the frontman, songwriter, and lyricist for the indie alt-rock group Parachute Thieves. Nurturing a mission sparked by childhood memories of discovering poetry's magic on TTC in Scarborough, Latif endeavors to kindle that same inspiration and joy in a new generation.
Be a Featured Poet
Poems in Passage is always looking for fresh voices to feature future seasons! If you’re a poet with a powerful story to share, we invite you to submit your work for a chance to be featured on the TTC and other public spaces.