Writer & spoken word artist

Lisa Shen is a writer and spoken word artist, and the 4th Youth Poet Laureate of the City of Mississauga. Her work centers on feminism and gender-based violence, with secondary focuses on Chinese-Canadianism, disability, and queer identity. 

Lisa placed second in the country at the 2023 Canadian Individual Poetry Slam. She is the winner of the 2021 Mississauga Poetry Slam, the 2022 Ink Movement Slam, and the May 2020 Open Drawer Poetry Contest. She was also a TEDxMcMasterU Speaker. She has performed at venues across North America, from California to Toronto. Her work has been published by Brickyard Spoken Word and Voicemail Poems, and is forthcoming in Rattle.

Lisa is the Director of Sauga Poetry, Mississauga’s hub for spoken word. She has taught poetry courses with Workman Arts and JAYU and delivered workshops in high schools. She was awarded the 2022 Buddies Queer Emerging Artists Award, and is dedicated to uplifting spoken word across the Greater Toronto Area.