Ann-Bernice Thomas

Ann-Bernice Thomas

At the January 14, 2016 City Council meeting, Ann-Bernice Thomas was announced as Victoria’s newest Youth Poet Laureate. Serving as a champion for youth and the literary arts, Victoria’s Youth Poet Laureate seeks to inspire and engage local youth to share their stories and artistic voice through both the written and spoken word.

A spoken word artist and screenplay writer, Thomas is in her second year of study at the University of Victoria, double majoring in Creative Writing and Theatre Production. A competitor in the first Ontario High School Slam Competition in 2013, she fell in love with the art form and hasn't stopped since.

Thomas aims to use her voice to rally change, social awareness, and share stories (personal or otherwise) that are waiting to be told. She has performed at the Ferguson Rally in 2014, the Scotiabank Aids Walk for Life in 2015, and stage-managed and performed in the applied theatre show Waste Management in 2015, which toured to different high schools discussing dumpster diving, capitalism and the world of waste we have created for ourselves. Thomas is currently working on her photo-poetry project An Exploration of the Human Body.

“I am so honoured to be the next Youth Poet Laureate!” said Ann-Bernice Thomas, “I am so excited for the year ahead, to follow in previous footsteps, and continue to bring poetry and self-expression to the youth of Victoria."

Below is a video of Thomas performing her original spoken word poem "The first time I saw God".