OCAD U 2021 Academic Year Welcome | Social
Randell Adjei in conversation with Ian Keteku
Thursday, September 2, 2021
4:00pm - 5:30pm
Online via Zoom
Join us to celebrate the beginning of a new academic year with a special guest performance by spoken word artist and Ontario’s first Poet Laureate, Randell Adjei. Faculty member, poet and multi-media artist, Ian Keteku will host the event and dialogue with Randell Adjei. All students, faculty and staff are welcome to attend!
Randell Adjei is an entrepreneur, speaker and spoken word practitioner who uses his gifts to Empower the message of Alchemy. He was recently appointed Ontario’s first Poet Laureate (2021). Randell is the founder of one of Toronto's largest youth led initiatives; Reaching Intelligent Souls Everywhere (R.I.S.E Edutainment). In 2018, R.I.S.E received the Toronto Arts Foundation Mayor’s Youth Arts Award. Randell is the author of “I am Not my struggles,” a powerful Anthology released in 2018. Randell was also named CBC’s Metro Morning’s Torontonian of the Year in 2015 and NOW Magazine’s Local Hero in May 2017. In 2020 Randell opened for President Barack Obama at the Economic Club of Canada.
Ian Keteku’s poetry is an articulation of a generation’s heartbeat. A magician with syntax and a word sorcerer, he conjures new realities all in an attempt to better understand our existence. An internationally acclaimed poet and multimedia artist he is the 2010 World Poetry Slam champion. He uses his voice to inspire messages of peace, action and critical thought. Ian’s work is strongly influenced by his upbringing and journeys throughout Africa. His work follows in the lineage of ancient African storytellers by paying homage to the past and revisiting themes and lessons from previous generations. Ian teaches courses in creative writing and art and social change at OCAD U.
For more info, please email fcdc@ocadu.ca.