Shane Koyczan makes spoken-word poetry and music. His poem "To This Day" is a powerful story of bullying and survival, illustrated by animators from around the world.
Why you should listen
Shane Koyczan is a poet, author and performer. He performed at the opening ceremonies of the Vancouver Winter Olympics, where an audience of more than 1 billion people worldwide heard his piece “We Are More.”
He has published three books: Stickboy, Our Deathbeds Will Be Thirsty and Visiting Hours, selected by both the Guardian and the Globe and Mail for their Best Books of the Year lists.
In , he released a full-length album with his band Shane Koyczan and the Short Story Long. The album includes the viral hit “To This Day,” which explores the anguish of anyone who grew up feeling different or just a little bit alone. To bring visual life to this image-rich poem, Koyczan invited artists from around the world to contribute second segments of animation to the project. Posted on YouTube on February 19, , by the close of the month the video had been viewed 6 million times.
What others say
&#;Shane Koyczan is electrifying. It’s a rare poet who can make his audience l
In the poem “To This Day” by Shane Koyczan, the poet Shane Koyczan uses Word choice and Structure to express a message. The main idea his poem is trying to get across is that when you're a kid that is getting bullied, what others say to you could haunt you even when you are an adult. One strong example of Word Choice occurs when Shane Koyczan uses words like “BombardedTNT” words like these help emphasize towards the main idea.
Shane writes, “to this day despite a loving husband, she doesn’t think she’s beautiful because of a birthmark that takes up a little less than half of her face”. In other words, what Koyczan is saying is that “she” thinks that she is ugly because she got told that when she was young, so even now that she is older she still thinks that she is not beautiful. What he means by this is since this “she” was bullied in school as she grew up, now she think that she is ugly. When they called her things like this when she was young it stuck with her until she was an adult. This connects to his/her message because when he uses the phrase “ To this day” he is linking that part of the poem, to saying that even now - when time has past- the same thoughts are in their h
artsandyouthlove
For National Poetry Month , I&#;ve decided to spotlight the poem &#;To This Day&#; by Shane Koyczan. I saw the animated video made for the poem first, then I read the poem to myself via Shane Koyczan&#;s website. Both times, I was emotionally moved as a poet and as a person.
My heart ached at certain stanzas because of my own experience with being bullied. I felt that he reflected my feelings and the feelings of other bullying victims in an honest, raw, and poignant manner. Of course, this is probably because the poet himself was a victim of bullying.
I love certain lines in this poem, especially the metaphors. Likening bullied victims to &#;lobster clawed boys and bearded ladies&#; and &#;abandoned cars&#; was really good. Also, the way he positioned the lines and spaced the stanzas made it seem like he was giving a speech rather than just reading poetry. It is a powerful way to get the reader&#;s attention.
By putting his experiences into the poem along with an uplifting message, Koyczan has shown bullying victims that they are not alone and that they can survive what they are going through. I strive to have this same impact with my work someday, so th
Shane Koyczan ( -)
Shane L. Koyczan (born 22 May ) is a Canadian spoken word poet, writer, and member of the group Tons of Fun University. He is known for writing about issues like bullying, cancer, death, and eating disorders. He is most famous for the anti-bullying poem To This Day which has over 20 million views.
Koyczan was born in Yellowknife, Northwest Territories, and he grew up in Penticton, British Columbia. In , he became the first Canadian to win the Individual Championship title at the National Poetry Slam. Together with American slam poet Mighty Mike McGee and fellow Canadian C. R. Avery, he is a co-founder of Vancouver, British Columbia spoken word, "talk rock" trio, Tons of Fun University (T.O.F.U.).
In August Shane Koyczan and his work were the subject of an episode of the television documentary series Heart of a Poet, produced by Canadian filmmaker Maureen Judge for broadcaster Bravo!.
Koyczan has published several books, includi
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