“one day, my daughter will be proud of the curls mimicking the bounce in her feet,
when she looks in the mirror she won't even have to look,
her and beauty would have already had the chance to meet"

Desiree Mckenzie is an award-winning poet, arts educator, national poetry slam champion living inToronto.

Her poetry and voice have been featured in works for CBC’s Poetic License series, When Sisters Speak, Clearco Financial, Button Poetry, Kids Help Phone and Home Depot. She facilitates a range of community poetry programming for organizations like JAYU, VIBE Arts, Unity Charity, and Poetry in Voice. In December 2022, she opened for Rupi Kaur on her world tour stop at Massey Hall. She is currently an MFA Candidate in Creative Writing at the University of Guelph.