Lishai Peel

Lishai is an award winning poet, creative consultant and community animator with roots in diasporic oral tradition. Deeply committed to using spoken word as a tool for community capacity building, she facilitates performance and writing workshops in schools throughout Canada. Although she primarily works with youth, she has also facilitated workshops for adults at corporate leadership events, through cultural institutions and at conferences and universities. Lishai utilizes culturally-sensitive, arts based practices in her workshops, with a focus on confidence building and excavation of personal stories. Lishai is the co-founder of Ink Veins; a group dedicated to mentoring young women in their pursuit of writing. In 2013, she authored a graphic novel Why Birds and Wolves Don’t Trade Stones, which is available on Amazon. And her debut album, From Here On, in collaboration with Waleed Abdulhamid, is available on iTunes. Lishai’s poetry “What Speaks To You?” has been featured in four-part commercial that aired on 30 Bell Media Channels and most recently completed a PSA with The Vancouver Economic Commission entitled “Break Something” Lishai writes and performs with a commitment to joy.

“I chose to pursue a career as a storyteller because it is an extension of who I am and because I trust that some stories need to be told, some stories heal and forgive and there are some places you can only travel to by gathering with community, sharing stories, and trusting that people will catch your words and hold them.”

April 21st: Spoken Word Jamboree
April 22nd: All-Star Slam
April 23rd: Adventures in Poetryland
April 24th: Jangle & Shout