Publications
Not only a poet and artist, I am also a scholar and academic. I have my Bachelor of Arts in English Literature from the University of Winnipeg and a Master of Arts in Sustainability from Trent University. Drawing from my own research and lived experience, I wrote my masters thesis on the topic of child welfare. I have participated in a number of publications which can be found below
Data Poems
Created at Trent University’s Research for Social Change Lab
These are a combination of black out and found poetry made using the interview transcripts of the unhoused folks we interviewed the summer of 2022. These are the same interviews used to create the Park Stories zine collection.
This series focuses on the stories of the people and the challenges they face like inaccessible services, relationship breakdowns, mental health, trauma, and jail, in a different way than in the zines. In writing the poems, I also played with the relations between the interviewer and the interviewee, the interview structure, and the identities of the interviewees. My goal was to explore the complex nature of our work at the lab and dive deeper into the themes that arose in our research.
Get In Line / Stay In Line
Created as part of the The BfE Super Crew at Trent University’s Research for Social Change Lab
Get in Line demonstrates the intended functioning of Coordinated Access, while Stay in Line delves into the actual experiences of individuals seeking housing and the personnel responsible for implementing the coordinated system. Through this approach, Stay in Line communicates our teams evaluation of the effectiveness of Coordinated Access in fulfilling its intended purpose.
Park Stories Issue Four: Navigating the System
Created with The BfE Super Crew at Trent University’s Research for Social Change Lab
In the summer of 2022, the Research for Social Change lab set out to learn: What is it like to experience homelessness in Peterborough, Ontario? And what are people’s experiences seeking services from Peterborough’s homeless-serving system?
Over about a month, we interviewed 48 people who were experiencing homelessness or had a history of homelessness in Peterborough. Most of these interviews took place in Victoria Park, a popular hangout and sometimes camp site across the street from the One Roof Community Centre. Participants were give a $25 honorarium to thank them for their time.
We are sharing what we heard in a series of zines called Park Stories. When the series is complete, we will collect them into a larger volume. Every individual quoted in this zine has been given a pseudonym to protect their privacy.
This zine and the research it draws on was supported by Reaching Home: Canada’s Homelessness Strategy and United Way Peterborough & District
