~ Sheniz Janmohamed ~

Sheniz Janmohamed is a young poet, spoken word artist and freelance writer based out of Toronto, Canada. She holds an Honours BA  (with Distinction) in Religion and English Literature from the University of Toronto.

She is currently in the second year of her MFA in Creative Writing at the University of Guelph (Humber campus) and hopes to continue a career in the field of literature. 

She is also the founder and president of Ignite Poets, an initiative that allows young poets and spoken word artists to collaborate and work together for worthy causes. Ignite's second show, Ignite II: Unite (2004), raised funds for The World Partnership Walk. In  addition to having her own spoken word initiative, Sheniz is also a promotions officer for Toronto Poets (www.torontopoets.com).  Sheniz has shared the stage with Canadian idol hopeful Devika Mathur, saxophonist Sundar Viswanathan and "The Tabla Guy", Gurpreet Chana. She has performed her spoken word at various events, the largest being The World Partnership Walk, in front of an audience of 5,000 people.

Sheniz has completed a manuscript of ghazal poetry under the mentorship of Professor Kuldip Gill. She is currently working on a creative non-fiction thesis under the mentorship of Janice Kulyk Keefer.

Her poetry, playwriting and short fiction have been workshopped by GG winner Dionne Brand, Dora Award winning David Young and GG Nominee Thomas King.

 She is a regular contributor for Anokhi Magazine(www.anokhimagazine.com), Northern Poetry Review (www.northernpoetryreview.com),  Ismaili Canada Magazine, South Asian Living, and CityMasala Magazine (www.citymasala.com).

As a journalist, Sheniz has conducted interviews with countless artists, writers and entertainment personalities,including: director Richie Mehta (TIFF entry film Amal), actress Seema Biswas (Bandit Queen, Khamoshi), Sitara Hewitt and Zaib Shaikh (CBC 's Little Mosque on the Prairie), Booker nominee Mohsin Hamid (The Reluctant Fundamentalist), MTV Canada Vj Aliya-Jasmine Sovani....and the list continues!