Bio
2018 Rio International Poetry Slam Champion
2014 World Poetry Slam Champion
https://www.vancouverpoetryhouse.com/hello-world/
2014 Canadian Poet of Honour
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Two-time Canadian Individual Poetry Slam Champion (2011, 2013)
https://www.vancouverpoetryhouse.com/cips/
Two-time Canadian National Poetry Slam Team Champion, with Team Ottawa (2009, 2010)
Ikenna Alex Onyegbula is a Canadian poet, speaker, and educator currently residing in Toronto, Ontario.
He started writing spoken word poetry and presenting it publicly in 2008 and has since featured his poems on stages across North America, Europe, South America, and Asia. He has performed in many high-profile poetry and music festivals, like Hullabaloo, Calgary Spoken Word Festival, Edmonton Poetry Festival, Vancouver Island Music Festival, South Country Fair, North Country Fair, Hillside, and Wonderfruit Music Festival in Pattaya, Thailand. He is one of only two Canadian World Poetry Slam champions and the only multiple-time Canadian Individual Poetry Slam winner.
As a writer, Ikenna is featured in two national anthologies: Letters to a Future Church: Words of Encouragement and Prophetic Appeals (2011) and The Great Black North: Contemporary African Canadian Poetry (2013).
ARTS EDUCATION
As an arts educator, Ikenna facilitates poetry workshops across Canada and abroad for youth and adult poets alike. Since 2009, he has worked with many budding poets, helping to create safe spaces where they may share their stories. Most memorably, Ikenna served as the artistic director for YouthCanSlam, Canada’s first-ever national youth poetry festival, held in Ottawa, Canada in 2013. He has also served as a poet mentor for the Hulaballoo Youth Spoken Word Festival in Vancouver, BC. In 2016, he was invited to India by Delhi Poetry Slam on a 3-month artist residency, where he both performed and facilitated workshops in universities and within various local communities.
