SHANE KOYCZAN IS AN AWARD WINNING CANADIAN POET, AUTHOR AND PERFORMER.
The world took notice of Shane Koyczan when his influential, anti-bullying, To This Day Project video went viral in early 2013 and has reached over 14 million views and counting.
Powerfully engaging and authentic in attitude, Shane’s explorations are relevant to our times in the way that Bob Dylan, Joni Mitchell and Leonard Cohen were to theirs. But unlike the musicians that he’s often compared to, poets rarely infiltrate pop culture. Shane emerges in a new wave of 21st century poetry that dares to belong to the people and speak directly to them in their own voice.
Shane is both a writer and spoken word virtuoso. His first published collection, Visiting Hours, was the only work of poetry selected by both the Guardian and the Globe and Mail for their Best Books of the Year lists in 2005. Destined to become a future classic, Visiting Hours is now in its third edition, and includes We Are More, performed by Shane at the Opening Ceremonies of the 2010 Winter Olympics.
Shane followed up on the success of Visiting Hours with Stickboy, a novel in verse that chronicles the dark and lonely journey of a bullied child gripped by helpless rage. Shane shines a light into the bleak world behind some of the most incomprehensible acts in our culture, and also shows the healing power of love. Written for anyone who has ever been a child, Stickboy continues to be hailed by teachers, academics, and mental health experts alike for its deft handling of the subject of bullying.
Shane has returned to his roots with a collection of poetry titled, Our Deathbeds will be Thirsty, which was released in 2012. This book features the piece, To This Day, a poem about bullying that was made into a video by collaborating animators. It was released as a project to acknowledge anti-bullying day. Since the video’s release Shane has presented at TED Talks, where the audience leapt to their feet in applause. Sir Ken Robinson has listed that talk as one of his top ten talks on education. That TED Talk led to him collaborating with TED Education to create a classroom tool that provides teachers a way to discuss anti-bullying with students.
Shane Koyczan however, is best known for his award winning spoken word performances. With his rhythmic verse in high gear, he navigates his audience through social and political territory with a furious honesty and a tender humanity that has brought audiences to their feet in New York, London, Edinburgh, Sydney and Los Angeles, to name a few. He received 5 star reviews for his performance at the 2012 Edinburgh Fringe Festival and the video, Instructions for a Bad Day, was showcased as the 2012 Vancouver International Film Festival. Winner of the US Slam Poetry Championship and the Canadian Spoken Word Olympics, Shane is truly an extraordinary talent that has blown the dust off of the designation “poet”.
Source:http://www.shanekoyczan.com/about-shane/, consulté le 17 février 2015.