OUR POETSSeason 3
Now in its third season, Poems in Passage continues to bring poetry into public space, featuring an expansive and intergenerational cohort of poets. From emerging voices to nationally and internationally celebrated artists, this season transforms Toronto’s transit system into a shared site of reflection, connection, and imagination.
At the same timeShad
Shad (Shadrach Kabango) is a Canadian rapper of Rwandan descent, known for blending sharp wit with thoughtful explorations of identity, faith, politics, and personal struggle. Over a 20-year career, he has carved out a distinctive voice in hip-hop through lyrical precision and sonic experimentation. A JUNO Award winner and the only artist to be shortlisted five times for the Polaris Music Prize, Shad’s impact extends beyond music. He has hosted CBC’s q and Netflix’s Hip-Hop Evolution, and teaches hip-hop–focused courses at the University of Toronto and Wilfrid Laurier University.
giverTawhida Tanya Evanson
Tawhida Tanya Evanson is a poet, novelist, artist, and Ashiq whose work blends orality, music, and image within currents of the African diaspora, Sufi mysticism, and decolonial praxis. Born and based in Tiohtià:ke/Montréal, with roots in Antigua, West Indies, her award-winning novel Book of Wings (2021) and its French companion Livre des ailes join her poetry collections Nouveau Griot and Bothism. A longstanding voice in spoken word, film, and sound, her multi-award-winning Afrofuturist concert film CYANO SUN SUITE (2024) continues to travel internationally. She moonlights as a whirling dervish.
earthlessRaine Maida
Raine Maida is a five-time JUNO Award–winning artist best known as the frontman of the multi-platinum alt-rock band Our Lady Peace. Over the past two decades, he has blurred the lines between music, technology, and humanitarianism, while also writing and producing for artists including Carrie Underwood, P!nk, Avril Lavigne, and Kid Ink. Beyond music, Maida is the co-founder and CEO of Fandrop, a fan-engagement and location-based marketing platform for live events. His work has earned him the Allan Slaight Humanitarian JUNO Award, the Tiffany Mark Award, appointment to the Order of Canada, and induction into Canada’s Walk of Fame.
least we still lit thoBritta B. (Poet-in-Residence)
Britta Badour, known as Britta B., is an award-winning artist, public speaker, and poet born and raised in Kingston, Ontario, and based in Toronto. Her debut poetry collection and audiobook, Wires That Sputter, was a Trillium Book Award finalist for Poetry and shortlisted for the Pat Lowther Memorial Award and the Gerald Lampert Memorial Award. She currently serves as Poet-in-Residence for Poems in Passage and teaches part-time at OCAD University. Britta holds an MFA in Creative Writing from the University of Guelph.
ai writes better poetry than mePatrick de Belen
Patrick de Belen is a Toronto-based Filipino-Canadian poet, filmmaker, and storyteller whose work moves between verse and visual storytelling. His art explores identity, grief, liberation, and the ways language can hold both memory and healing. The youngest poet to win a national slam championship, Patrick has written and performed for the Toronto Raptors, the NFL, and CBC, and shared stages with The Roots and Shane Koyczan. Beyond the spotlight, he is a dedicated arts educator and community builder, creating spaces in schools, jails, and community centres, where poetry becomes a tool for connection, resistance, and care.
i am fromShahaddah Jack
Shahaddah Jack is a bilingual spoken word poet, performer, event host, human rights activist, and Toronto’s first Youth Poet Laureate. She is the curator of Say It Loud! Youth Poetry Slam & Organization, creating space for young voices to be heard and celebrated. With over 100 performances across the city, including the iconic History stage, Shahaddah weaves her cultural roots into powerful stories about human rights, the Black experience, and youth today. She is the author of Underrated Royalty and has been recognized as BGC Canada’s 2022 Youth of the Year and one of Canada’s Top 100 Black Women to Watch.
without you is a city i don't want to live inCassandra Myers
Cassandra Myers (My’z) (they/she/he) is a crippled sailor who illustrates poems and portraits onto scallop shells. They spent their youth driving the family van across state lines with their best friends and love of their life competing in the olympics of slam poetry. Their survivor poetics appear in their first manuscript, Smash the Headlights, which contains too many award winning and published works to count, they would rather dance with you than name them. Currently based in Tkaronto, if you own a horse, please invite them over to ride it. If you do not own a horse, follow them @cass.myers.poetry or at cassmyers.com.
bloomingPauline Le Bel
Pauline Le Bel is an award-wining novelist, Emmy-nominated screenwriter, playwright, poet, editor, actor, singer/songwriter with 5 CDs of her original songs. She authored two poetry books, They Ask Me Why I Sing So Loud, and Becoming the Harvest (Caitlin Press) which includes the poem “Blooming;” two non-fiction books, Becoming Intimate with the Earth and Whale in the Door, and a novel, The Song Spinner. She is the founder of Knowing Our Place, a reconciliation initiative on Bowen Island, her home. Pauline sold her car 40 years ago, and is a big fan of transit.
God is a girl on the ttcTahira Rajwani
Tahira Rajwani (she/her) is Mississauga’s Youth Poet Laureate and the Director of local open mic series, Sauga Poetry. As a South Asian Canadian spoken word artist, her work is rooted in themes of diaspora and women’s empowerment. Tahira is the winner of the Lillian Allen Emerging Artist Prize and recently ranked second nationally when representing Toronto at the 2025 Canadian Individual Poetry Slam. As runner-up in Button Poetry’s 2022 Poem Cover Contest, she has been seen on slam podiums across Canada.
light of my lifeIan Li
Ian Li (he/him) is a Chinese-Canadian economist, developer, writer, and poet, who started writing in late 2023 after a lifetime of believing he could never be creative. As an immigrant and neurodivergent person, he likes to write about nostalgia, loneliness & connection, and finding hope in dark places. His poetry appears in Asimov’s Science Fiction, Strange Horizons, and Year’s Best Canadian Fantasy and Science Fiction, among dozens of other venues, and has been recognized as Rhysling Award finalist and John Newlove Poetry Award honourable mention. Learn more at ian-li.com.
Lo mai gaiSam Wilket
Sam Wilket (she/her) writes strange, surreal, and sometimes scary stories and poems. She is a second-generation Canadian of white British/Chinese descent, and is currently based in Toronto. She also runs "Forests in Her Mind," a newsletter where she recommends stellar speculative fiction by women authors.
Our loveDavid Silverberg
David Silverberg is a spoken word artist, poet, journalist and former artistic director of Toronto Poetry Slam. His poetry has been featured in Arc, Living Hyphen, BoingBoing.net and many more magazines. He has performed his poetry across Canada and Europe, and also shared a poem in a TEDx Talk at the Ontario Science Centre. His latest poetry collection is As Close the Edge Without Going Over and his latest show is Before & After. He also coaches writers and journalists via his Become a Better Writer program. Find out more at davidsilverberg.ca
word searchAleah Luciw
Aleah Luciw is a poet and writer from the Calgary area. Her work has been featured at the Writers’ Guild of Alberta’s Young Writers Showcase, and she has competed in the Canadian Individual Poetry Slam in Vancouver. She has also given guest lectures on performance poetry. Aleah’s reflective style centres on storytelling as a way to create connection and spark conversation.
facesLisa Shen
Lisa Shen is a writer and spoken word artist. She served as the 4th Youth Poet Laureate of the City of Mississauga and is the winner of the 2024 Lillian Allen Emerging Artist Prize. Her work has appeared on CBC Radio, TEDx, Button Poetry, and Write About Now. Lisa’s first chapbook A Story Ending in Redwoods was published in 2024 with Anstruther Press.
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.