Shane Koyczan is a Canadian spoken word poet most famous for his anti-bullying poem To This Day which has amassed over 24 million YouTube views. He is also a writer and member of Canadian “talk rock” spoken word trio Tons of Fun University. Globally recognised for writing about challenging issues such as eating disorders, social justice and bullying, he was the first Canadian in history to win the Beach National Poetry Slam Individual Championship title. Koyczan and his work featured in the documentary series Heart of a Poet in 2007, and Stickboy – his autobiographical novel in verse – is set to appear on stage in an adaptation by the Vancouver Opera.

Hailing from Yellowknife, Northwest Territories, Koyczan was raised in Penticton, British Columbia and studied at Okanagan College. He rose to prominence when he won the Individual Championship title at the Beach National Poetry Slam in 2000, and in 2005 his debut collection Visiting Hours was voted as one of the Best Books of 2005 by the Guardian and Globe and Mail. He has also published several other critically-acclaimed books including To This Day: For the Bullied and Beautiful, A Bruise on Light and Our Deathbeds will be Thirsty.

Koyczan performed his piece We Are More at the 2010 Winter Olympics Opening Ceremony in Vancouver, and in 2012 he released full-length digital album Remembrance Year. A year later, he released an animated video to accompany his poem To This Day, and after appearing on YouTube and the TED Conference the poem – which focussed on the subject of bullying – went viral, watched by millions around the world. Koyczan has remained a powerful voice against bullying and social injustice, and has since received a BC Civil Liberties Award for the Arts for his social justice work.