Sheniz Janmohamed is an author, artist educator, spoken word artist and land artist. A graduate of the MFA in Creative Writing program at the University of Guelph, Sheniz has been mentored by authors Dionne Brand, Kuldip Gill and Janice Kulyk Keefer.
She has performed nationally and internationally for over 10 years, including features at the Jaipur Literature Festival (Jaipur, 2013), Aga Khan Museum (Toronto, 2015) and Vancouver Writers Fest (2017), to name a few. Her writing has been published in various print and online journals and anthologies including West Coast Line, SUFI, Descant and Quill & Quire.
Her first book, Bleeding Light (Mawenzi House, 2010), is a collection of English ghazals that explores a woman’s journey through night. Throughout her journey, she is caught between West and East, religion and heresy, love and anti-love, darkness and the knowledge of light. Sheniz’s second collection of poetry, Firesmoke (Mawenzi House, 2014) traces the inception and annihilation of sacred fire and explores the meaning of truth and the self, finding them both in form and emptiness.
Sheniz offers spoken word, creative writing, professional development and land art workshops for children, youth and adults. A recipient of the Lois Birkenshaw-Fleming Creative Teaching Scholarship, Sheniz has visited hundreds of schools and libraries to teach and perform. She enjoys partnering and consulting with community organisations to develop tailored programs to respond to their unique needs.
Sheniz is a firm believer in fostering community through collaboration, compassion and creativity. In her own practice, she strives to embody her words through performance, mandala-making and writing in the ghazal form. Sheniz is also the founder of Questions for Ancestors, a blog that features BIPOC writers and artists across Turtle Island.
Sheniz is currently working on her next collection of poems…stay tuned.
Questions for Sheniz? Email her.
