Hi from Toronto!
I’m a freelance journalist, editor, writing coach, workshop facilitator, spoken word poet, and former artistic director of Toronto Poetry Slam. I write for publications such as The Globe & Mail, The Toronto Star, BBC News, Business Insider, Fast Company, The Daily Beast, MIT Technology Review, New Scientist, and more than 20 alumni publications.
I also write for several well-known brands, such as 23andme, Deloitte, RBC, Bold Commerce, ATB, Aphria, and Blue J Legal.
For 15 years, I was editor-in-chief of Digital Journal, a global news network with 150 writers reporting on important news from around the world. For two years, I was editor of B2B News Network.
I have a passion for teaching writing. I’ve brought poetry and journalism workshops to more than 30 schools and community centers, and for three years I helped run Camp Write-A-Way, a creative-writing summer camp in North York. In 2020 I taught writing to students across the U.S. as a volunteer workshop facilitator for the Youth Remote Learning initiative organized by Columbia University.
Turning to my poetry life, I’ve performed on stages across the world, including Vancouver, Montreal, New York City, London and Paris. As a theatre artist, my first solo show Jewnique debuted in 2018 at the Al Green Theatre, and I’ve since toured the show to Calgary, Ottawa and Blue Mountain Resort. I’m currently writing my second solo show that will debut in March 2023.
My latest book of poetry As Close to the Edge Without Going Over was published by Kelp Queen Press in 2019, and excerpts of my collection were published on the hit blog BoingBoing.
I love hosting shows! Maybe you’ve see me on the stage of Toronto Poetry Slam, one of the most popular poetry shows in Canada, which I launched in 2005 and helped run for 15 years. Prior to TPS, I produced the series Suburban Spoken Word in Thornhill, Ontario. Out of a bridge club. It was a different time then.
In the past 20 years, I estimate I’ve hosted around 400 poetry events and more than 20 conference panels and discussions. For three years, for example, I managed and hosted Future of Media events at the Drake Hotel in downtown Toronto.
Some random facts about me:
- I performed spoken word poetry at a TEDx event in 2008.
- I won the national Haiku Head-to-Head Deathmatch in 2010.
- I have an unhealthy obsessions with all things Toronto Raptors.
- I’m a voracious reader, with my favourite authors including Kurt Vonnegut, Harlan Ellison, Derrick Brown, Ian Keteku, Celeste Ng, Emma Donaghue, John Irving and Etgar Keret.
- I used to be a Bar Mitzvah teacher, advice columnist, blinds salesman, and editor of the short-lived Medical Marijuana Review.
- My most beloved band, yet my most hated food, are the Red Hot Chili Peppers.
