Sheniz Janmohamed

Sheniz Janmohamed was born and raised in Tkaronto with ancestral ties to Kenya and India. A poet, artist educator and nature artist, Sheniz is a graduate of the MFA in Creative Writing program at the University of Guelph.

Sheniz has been performing her poetry nationally and internationally for 15 years, including fea- tures at the Jaipur Literature Festival, Aga Khan Museum, and Vancouver Writers Fest to name a few. Her writing has been published in Arc Poetry Magazine, Descant and Canthius and she is a regular reviewer for Quill & Quire. She has three collections of poetry, published by Mawenzi House: Bleeding Light (2010), Firesmoke (2014) and Reminders on the Path (2021).

Her nature art has been featured across Turtle Island, including the National Arts Centre, MOCA and the Art Gallery of Mississauga.

A recipient of the Lois Birkenshaw-Fleming Creative Teaching Scholarship, Sheniz holds an Artist Educator Mentor certification from the Royal Conservatory. She visits dozens of cities and schools to offer performances, talks and workshops in poetry and nature art. She is a firm believer in foster- ing community through collaboration and creativity, bringing an equity-informed lens to her mentor- ships and workshop programs, with an emphasis on access and intersectionality. She is the founder and facilitator of Owning our Stories, the first writing circle of its kind for South Asian women in Ontario.

Sheniz recently served as the Writer-in-Residence at the University of Toronto Scarborough Campus (Winter/Spring 2022).

To find out more about her work, visit: www.shenizjanmohamed.com