Shane Koyczan

Background

Born in Yellowknife, Northwest Territories, Koyczan grew up in Penticton, British Columbia.

Career

He is most famous for the anti-bullying poem To This Day which has over 18 million views. In August 2007 Shane Koyczan and his work were the subject of an episode of the television documentary series Heart of a Poet, produced by Canadian filmmaker Maureen Judge for broadcaster Bravo!. Koyczan has published four books, poetry collection, Stickboy, a novel in verse, Our Deathbeds will be Thirsty, and "A Bruise on Light" most recently in 2015. was selected by both the Guardian and Globe and Mail for their 2005 Best Books of the Year lists.

Koyczan’s "We Are More" and Ivan Bielinski’s "Louisiana première fois", commissioned by the Canadian Tourism Commission, were unveiled at Canada Day festivities on Parliament Hill in Ottawa on 1 July 2007.

Koyczan performed a variation on his piece at the Opening Ceremony of the 2010 Winter Olympics in Vancouver. Koyczan also collaborated on Vancouver-based musician Dan Mangan"s Roboteering European Parliament on the track Tragic Turn of Events – Move Pen Move.

In 2012, Shane Koyczan released a full-length digital album entitled "Remembrance Year", which "tackles abuse with courage and displacement with inspiration", in collaboration with the folk instrumentation of his band, The Short Story Long. In February 2013 Koyczan released an animated video of his spoken word poem "To This Day" on YouTube and at the TED Conference.

The poem focused on the subject of bullying that Koyczan and others had received during their life and its lasting effects.

"To This Day" went viral shortly after its release, with the video receiving over 18 million views as of March 2016, prompting many viewers to send Koyczan letters thanking him for publishing the poem.

Achievements

• In 2000, he became the first Canadian to win the Individual Championship title at the National Poetry Slam. Together with Mighty Mike McGee and C. R. Avery, he is the co-founder of spoken word, "talk rock" trio, Tons of Fun University (TOFU).

Works

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  • Visiting Hours

    (The first book of poetry published by internationally ren...)