Writer & spoken word artist

Lisa Shen is a writer and spoken word artist, and the 2023-2025 Youth Poet Laureate of the City of Mississauga. Her work centers on feminism and girlhood, with secondary focuses on Chinese-Canadian heritage, disability, and queer love. 

Lisa placed second in the country at the 2023 Canadian Individual Poetry Slam. She is the winner of the May 2020 Open Drawer Poetry Contest. She has performed across North America, from California to Toronto. Her work has appeared on CBC Radio, TEDx, Rattle, and Voicemail Poems. Her debut chapbook A Girl’s Favourite Colour is forthcoming with Anstruther Press. 

Lisa is the Founder of Sauga Poetry, Mississauga’s hub for spoken word. She was awarded the 2022 Buddies Queer Emerging Artists Award and shortlisted for the inaugural League of Canadian Poets Spoken Word Award. She is dedicated to uplifting poetry across the Greater Toronto Area.