Spoken Culture ARTIST DIRECTORY
connecting you to poets, storytellers & spoken word artists
Denice Baker
Denice was born and raised in London, Ontario, spending every childhood summer along Lake Huron at Ipperwash beach. Her work is a meditation often hard won, poems that paint personal and fictional sense-memory onto the page with lush imagery inspired by slow observation and ordinary magic. Denice's writing is informed by the quiet thrums of the natural world juxtaposed by the chaotic experience of a woman discovering the depths of love, grief and belonging.
Rate: Contact to negotiate.
bo Gus
Bo Gus often reflects upon his life and how society and modern events shape out minds and current perceptions. Towing the line of story telling, abstract poetry, and an i innate skill for rhyming like no other. Bo Gus holds a mirror to himself and society rhyming the reflections. 2009 London poetry slam team member and current director of the London poetry slam.
Rate: Contact to negotiate.
Website: www.phonophonic.bandcamp.com
Instagram: botothegus
Renée Francoeur
Renée Francoeur is a Canadian communications professional and a former journalist and magazine editor. She has been published by The Autoethnographer, marrow magazine, Fearsome Critters, Flora Fiction, Bracken Magazine, Three Line Poetry, Standard Criteria, and Squawk Back. She loves wild buffalo, old tombstones, whooping cranes, community gardening, and fueling a positive conversation about higher-quality, end-of-life care and planning.
Rate: Contact to negotiate.
Pujita Verma
Pujita Verma is a poet and illustrator living in London, Ontario. Her poems have been featured across the Toronto Transit Commission Network and on CBC’s The National. She won awards from the League of Canadian Poets, Toronto Arts and Letters Club Foundation, Eden Mills Writers Festival, and was runner-up for the Janice Colbert Poetry Award. Pujita’s debut collection of poetry is Precedence (Brick Books, 2026).
Rate: $50-$500 (Sliding scale for non-profits and community organizations)
Instagram: pujitas.co
Website:www.pujitas.com.
Paige Taylor
Paige is a woman of many interests — some say too many. She holds a diploma in Fashion Marketing & Management from Fanshawe College and is currently in her third year at Western University pursuing an Honours Specialization in Creative Writing and English Language & Literature, based in London, ON. Her work lives primarily in poetry, with roots in novels and short fiction too, pulling from the unnerving corners of life like mental health, womanhood, misogyny, death, and gore. She writes the things people flinch from, and refuses to let them be quiet, wrapping them instead in strict rhyme schemes and a lilting, melodic cadence that makes the darkest subjects feel almost like a lullaby. She is available for spoken word performances, literary events, and collaborative projects.
Rate: Contact to negotiate.
Instagram: paigedrafted
Duane Kumala-Thomas
Duane Kumala-Thomas is a multidisciplinary artist, creative strategist, and co-founder of Highlander Studios, based in Woodstock, Ontario. His work blends spoken word, visual art, music, and public installation to explore themes of history, resilience, and human connection. As an active community leader, he is deeply engaged in shaping cultural initiatives that elevate local voices. Duane’s projects often merge storytelling with immersive experiences, creating spaces where art, memory, and dialogue intersect. Through both his studio practice and community work, he is committed to building platforms that inspire creativity, collaboration, and lasting impact.
Rate: $250 or $500 with sponsorship attributed to Highlander Studios.
Instagram: Highlander.studios
Website: http://highlanderstudios.ca/
Anda Marcu
Anda Marcu is an award-winning multidisciplinary artist and writer whose portfolio spans global exhibitions, publications, and private collections in North America and Europe. Anda works across visual and verbal forms: painting, film photography, creative writing, and hybrid works that combine image and text. A member of the League of Canadian Poets and a Best of the Net nominee, she is also the founding editor of The Purposeful Mayonnaise Literary & Art Journal (currently on hiatus).
Rate: Contact to negotiate
Instagram: @andamarcuart
Website:https://www.andamarcu.com/
Kathy bell
Kathy Bell has been writing poetry since their teenage years, with several publications in literary journals. As an AFAB, neurodivergent, non-binary poet, their work explores the deeply personal — the journey toward self-authenticity, the ways society shapes and challenges identity, and the quiet resilience of living honestly. They write from a place of vulnerability, hoping that in sharing their own experience, something in their words finds its way to yours.
Rate: Open to work within Budget. Contact to negotiate.
Tyler Miller
Tyler Miller is a poet, playwright, and ceramic artist from London, Ontario (McKee Treaty No. 2 territory). His interests include translation, quantitative metre, and philosophical poetics. His dramatic work has been performed by AlvegoRoot Theatre and past poetic work was shortlisted for the 2022 Ralph Gustafson Poetry Prize.
Rate: Contact to negotiate
Website: tyleredwardmiller.ca
Heidi Sander
Multi-award-winning and best-selling poet, keynote speaker, workshop facilitator, spoken word performer, artistic director: Heidi Sander’s work spans solo shows, multiple artistic collaborations, Page to Stage workshops, and two multimedia programs and memberships: Pathways to Poetry, for poets developing their craft, and Your Creative Return, helping people reclaim their creative voice.
Rate: Depends on event details
Instagram: @heidisanderwriter
Website: https://heidisander.com