Jillian Christmas

Jillian Christmas (Canada) is a queer Afro-Caribbean writer living on the unceded territories of the Squamish, Tsleil-Waututh and Musqueam peoples (Vancouver, BC). Jillian works as an artist, educator, curator and consultant – current speaker coordinator for Cicely Blain Consulting, long-time spoken word curator of the Vancouver Writers Fest, and former artistic director of Verses Festival of Words. She has won numerous Grand Poetry Slam Championship titles and represented both Toronto and Vancouver at 11 national poetry events, notably breaking ground as the first Canadian to perform on the final stage of the Women of the World Poetry Slam. She has presented poetry and theory in a multitude of venues including the BC Civil Liberties gala, the SFU 2018 grad conference closing keynote, and numerous panels focused on the intersections of critical race theory and contemporary art. She is the author of The Gospel of Breaking (2020).