“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, the TTC, Clearco Financial, Button Poetry, Kids Help Phone and War Child. When she's not performing or writing, she facilitates a range of community poetry programs for organizations such as JAYU, VIBE Arts, Unity Charity, and Poetry in Voice. She holds an MFA in Creative Writing from the University of Guelph and is working on her first book of poetry.