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Guelph Spoken Word Member Artists

In order to foster a community appreciation for spoken word, GSW would love to see a poet on every stage and microphone across the country. Maybe one of these superstars!?
​Book a poet to perform at your event, facilitate a workshop or MC/host an event.  Select a poet from one of Guelph Spoken Word’s experienced member artists and contact us to inquire about availability for your event. Reach out for more details or to find out how to become a member!

Audny-Cashae Stewart

​Audny-Cashae Stewart is a first-year university student at the University of Toronto in the fall, pursuing a degree in Humanities. Audny has been a community leader since elementary school as she has organized and presented Black History Month assemblies in her predominately white school since the 7th grade. Yet, in the 11th grade, she had the ability to create the only Black Student Union and Alliance in a Guelph high school and is the youth leader at Mississauga SDA Church, actively being a voice within her community by presenting her self-written spoken word pieces in front of audiences, focusing on racial injustice.

Beth Anne Ellipsis

​Themes: Relationships, community, environment, queer.
Book For: Performances, workshops & event hosting.

​A Guelph based performance poet, Beth Anne Ellipsis crafts her words to reflect the lives of herself and those around her.  Her work is earth inspired and speaks to the struggle we all face to find our true self and place in community.  She is active in the poetry slam community; competing in national competitions and has performed on Canada’s National television show Come Dine with Me. She is the founder of Guelph Spoken Word; a performance poetry arts organization.

Danielle Workman

Themes: Love, relationships, overcoming adversity
Book For: Performances

​Danielle attended her first open mic less than a year ago and having just gone through an angsty bad break up had plenty of writing and sharing to do! What she found was an incredibly safe, supportive community that embraced creative expression. When she went to her first slam her life was forever changed! Writing has long been a passion for Danielle and now there was new life and aspirations added to the list. Danielle is thrilled to be on the Guelph Spoken Word board! She is dedicated to continuing to build this community and awareness for this art form!

David James Hudson
(he/him)

​David James Hudson is a poet, librarian, and anti-racist scholar residing in Attawandaron territory (Guelph). He has been performing in communities across the country for more than 15 years, sharing stages with poets and musicians, scholars and storytellers, and activists and artists of all sorts. David has been a featured performer at numerous music, writers', and other cultural festivals, as well as participating in national and international poetry slam championships. He is also a three-time member (and two-time Grand Slam Champion) of the Guelph Poetry Slam team.

Lee
(they/them)

Themes: Mental health, sexuality, gender
Book For: Performances, workshops

Lee is an administrator by day and performer by night. They enjoy using stories to bring people together to laugh, cry and feel seen. Their poetry spans themes of gender, sexuality, feminism, mental health and personal growth, all while challenging the hetero- and cis-normative patriarchy. Lee has performed at a wide range of festivals, private events, schools and national stages. They have participated in three poetry slam teams, including Guelph's 2016 team who won first place at the Canadian Festival of Spoken Word (who cares?). They have a habit of coming out in their poetry years before coming out to themself.

Erin Aspenlieder

Themes: Political, social justice, love, educational
Book For: Performances, Workshops

​​Teacher by day, and poet by night, E. Ratic is a member of the 2016 Guelph Slam Poetry Team and a board member for Guelph Spoken Word Her work straddles the personal and the political and strives to bring the beauty of poetry alive on stage. A skilled facilitator, E. Ratic designs and delivers workshops for learners of all ages.

Fannon Holland
​(he/him)

Fannon comes to us from Pittsburgh, via Chicago where he met his Canadian wife, which just goes to show you he is a great judge of character. Putting his BA in theater to good use, Fannon found a spoken word stage when a co worker told him he could win some money. "Me? Win money? For being a ham? Where do i sign up" It took seven years to become a national champion as captain of the Guelph slam team in 2016. Quote: Spoken word is the perfect marriage between writer and actor.

Fira

Themes: Mental health, gender, sexuality, relationships, healing
Book For: Performances, writing workshops

Fira (they/them/he/him) is a born and raised Guelph spoken word poet currently residing in Tkaronto, (Toronto) on the traditional territories of the Wendat, the Anishnaabeg, Haudenosaunee, Métis, and the Mississaugas of the New Credit First Nation. Their experience with Guelph Poetry Slam sparked an intense and passionate love affair with poetry and how three minutes could move a room and uplift the soul. In 2017 they dove headfirst into the poetry community and joined the GPS team, together finishing fourth at the Canadian Festival of Spoken Word. They are now on the 2018 Burlington slam team and an organizer for Voice of Today Youth Poetry Festival. They can most easily be reached via their Facebook page and encourages you to connect with them!

Jeffrey Reid Pettis

Jeffrey Reid Pettis lives and works in Guelph as an educator. He studied English and Philosophy at University and recently completed his Master's in English, focusing on contemporary(ish) paranoid fiction. His published academic work includes an essay on the panoptocism and performance of Breaking Bad and a forthcoming critical introduction for an obscure Victorian magazine. His debut chapbook of poetry, Citrus and Shadow, was released by Vocamus Press in 2019. He listens to loud music loudly, writes quiet poems quietly, and cares deeply about caring for others.

Kevin Sutton

Kevin Sutton is a spoken word artist, page poet, actor, playwright, workshop facilitator, activist, and community organizer. A regular of Hillside's Sun stage, Kevin uses his words to empower his audience and, he hopes, to inspire a peaceful change towards a more resilient local and global community.

Lisa Baird

Themes: Social Justice, femenist, quirky, occasionally raunchy & frequently very funny!
Book For: Performances & Writing Workshops

​​Lisa Baird is a poet, a facilitator and a queer white settler living on Attawandaron/Attawandaronk/Neutral territory (Guelph, Ontario). Sometimes she performs with David James Hudson. She has toured nationally and internationally. She prefers fireflies to fireworks and would happily wear legwarmers year-round. Visit her online at www.lisabaird.ca.

Marion Reidel

​​​Themes: Funny, love,  and relationships, target is mature audiences, mainly women. 
Book For: Performances, creative process writer's groups

​​Marion’s passion is prose. Her predominantly humorous short stories are inspired by real world observation and personal experience. Toastmaster training, and a career in education, provide the presentation skills to bring these anecdotes to life. An Eden Mill Fringe winner in 2015, she’s a regular contributor to GPS’s Open Mic.

Mona Mousa
​(she/her)

Mona is a spoken word poet and motivational speaker. Having toured actively over the course of her 11 year poetry career. She has had the pleasure in Having taught in such places as the University of Hawaii, Yellowknife, and Louder Than a Bomb's home office Young Chicago Authors.

When she is at home Mona is heavily active in all facets of her community as founder and director of Feather & Anchor, a talent management agency serving performance artists from the countries BIPOC Communities. Over the past 11 years Mona's mission has been to work to empower communities to engage in discussion. Her Work audaciously & unapologetically centres around themes of identity and race politics, Gender and sexual diversity, and femme visibility.

She’ll often say “it’s a political statement just to leave home some days”, but if her written and performance work is indicative of anything, it’s of a person who has seen a world of pain love and growth, who writes, performs and navigates the world in a way that is compassionate towards humanities search for truth and justice.

Patrick Kelly

Themes: Abstract, farming, food, nature, science, personal growth
Book For: Performances, writing workshops, editing

​With a focus on the craft of writing, Patrick has completed a body of work on farming, food sovereignty, and food security through an OAC Literary Creation Project grant. To him, poetry and writing are powerful ways to heal, reflect, and grow beyond one's experiences. He loves helping others find their way out of the words.
He was a part of the 2017 Guelph Poetry Slam Team that placed 4th in the country and he has contributed to Guelph Spoken Word as a board member and organiser since 2013.

Qurat Dar
​(she/her, they/them)
*available for online events only

Qurat Dar (she/they) is an engineering student at the University of Guelph, a spoken word poet, and an emerging author. She has had work in Augur Magazine, The Temz Review, and Anathema Magazine, as well as poetry exhibited in the Art Gallery of Mississauga. Qurat was a 2019 recipient of the Ron Lenyk Inspiring Youth Arts Award and is a Best of the Net finalist. She was also recently crowned the 2020 Canadian Individual Poetry Slam (CIPS) National Champion. Their debut chapbook is forthcoming later this year with Coven Editions.

Truth Is ...
​(she/her, they/them)

Over the years through poetry and effective communication Truth Is … has dedicated much of her time and all of herself to the betterment of the community. Since 2006 Truth Is … has been a multiple time individual slam champion, an 11x national spoken word team member; participating in hundreds of slams. She has participated in several of the Tedx series and has graced the stage of the prestigious 'When Sisters Speak' spoken word concerts 5x. More recently she has opened up for legendary activist Angela Davis, been the recipient of the Min Sook Lee Labour Arts award and named Guelph's Top 40 under 40.
Guelph Spoken Word operates on the traditional territory of the Chonnonton, Anishinaabek, and Haudenosaunee peoples, and treaty lands of the Mississaugas of the Credit. We acknowledge the Two Row Wampum and Dish With One Spoon Covenant, and are responsible for upholding the agreements our ancestors made here. Indigenous peoples are integral to the story of this land. It is up to each of us to repair the damage done by settlers and the state of Canada, and build relationships based on reciprocity, respect and reconciliation. ​

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