Shane L. Koyczan/ˈkɔɪˌzæn/,[2] born 22 May 1976, is a Canadianspoken word poet, writer, and member of the group Tons of Fun University. He is known for writing about issues like bullying, cancer, death, and eating disorders. He is most famous for the anti-bullying poem “To This Day” which has over 25 million views on YouTube.
Koyczan has published several books, including poetry collection Visiting Hours, Stickboy, a novel in verse, Our Deathbeds will be Thirsty, To This Day: For the Bullied and Beautiful and A Bruise on Light. Visiting Hours was selected by both the Guardian and Globe and Mail for their 2005 Best Books of the Year lists.
Koyczan also collaborated on Vancouver-based musician Dan Mangan's Roboteering EP on the track Tragic Turn of Events – Move Pen Move.
In 2012, Shane Koyczan released a full-length digital album entitled "Remembrance Year", which "tackles abuse with courage and displacement with inspiration",[7] in collaboration with the folk instrumentation of his band, The Short Story Long.
In February 2013, Koyczan released an animated video of his spoken word poem "To This Day" on YouTube and at the TED Conference.[8][9] The poem focused on the subject of bullying that Koyczan and others had received during their life and its lasting effects.[10] "To This Day" went viral shortly after its release,[11] with the video receiving over 20 million views as of January 2017, prompting many viewers to send Koyczan letters thanking him for publishing the poem.[12][13]
He has described himself as an 'okay atheist'.[14]
Bibliographyedit
I'm Calling You a Friend
Help Wanted
I Drew That For You
Visiting Hours (2005, Mother Press Media; ISBN 978-0-9738131-0-4)
the Stickboy (2008, House of Parlance Media ISBN 978-0-9738131-6-6)[15]
Our Deathbeds will be Thirsty (2012, House of Parlance Media)
To This Day: For the Bullied and Beautiful (2014, Annick Press, ISBN 9781554516391)
A Bruise on Light (2014, Stickboy Press, ISBN 9780991971831)
^"Shane Koyczan on Twitter: ""@simoneengel: How do you pronounce your last name? @koyczan" Smith. Just kidding. It's coy and zan (rhymes with pan) the c is silent." / Twitter". Twitter. Retrieved 30 November 2021.
^Lederman, Marsha (1 August 2002). "Vancouver poets to compete at National man Slam". CBC. Retrieved 13 February 2010.
^"CTC pioneers new-school tourism marketing, leads Canada Brand with new visual ID and celebrates Canada's 140th with slam poets on stage". Backbone Magazine. 4 July 2007. Retrieved 13 February 2010.
^Patch, Nick (13 February 2010). "Poet from Yellowknife becomes overnight sensation after Olympics monologue". Winnipeg Free Press, The Canadian Press. Archived from the original on 16 February 2010. Retrieved 7 November 2013.
^Khaikin, Lital. "Spoken Word Hits the Bedroom with Shane Koyczan and the Short Story Long: 2012 Album "Remembrance Year"". Why Blue Matters. Retrieved 30 December 2012.
^Shane Koyczan (19 February 2013). "To This Day Project – Shane Koyczan". YouTube. Retrieved 28 February 2013.
^"Shane Koyczan: "To This Day" … for the bullied and beautiful". TED. Retrieved 22 March 2013.
^Natalie Sequeira (22 February 2013). "Shane Koyczan's anti-bullying poem goes viral". Quill & Quire. Archived from the original on 26 February 2013. Retrieved 17 March 2013.
^Dominique Mosbergen (25 February 2013). "Shane Koyczan's 'To This Day', Anti Bullying Poem, Goes Viral". The Huffington Post. Retrieved 15 March 2013.
^Casey Glynn (20 February 2013). "Powerful animated version of a poem about bullying". CBS News. Retrieved 17 March 2013.
^bbamsey (22 February 2013). "Bullied poet's slamming video goes viral". HLNtv.com. Retrieved 28 February 2013.
^Shane Koyczan (8 December 2014), Shane Koyczan 'Heaven, or Whatever', archived from the original on 21 December 2021, retrieved 30 June 2017
^Kozlowski, Michal. "Stickboy: A Novel in Verse (review)". Geist.com. Retrieved 13 February 2010.
^"Shane L. Koyczan* - Perfect". Discogs. Retrieved 8 December 2019.
^"Release "American Pie Chart" by Shane Koyczan - MusicBrainz". musicbrainz.org. Retrieved 8 December 2019.
^"Shane Koyczan & The Short Story Long - ...A Pretty Decent Cape In My Closet". Discogs. Retrieved 8 December 2019.
^Shut Up and Say Something by Shane Koyczan, retrieved 8 December 2019
^"Shane Koyczan & The Short Story Long - Remembrance Year". Discogs. Retrieved 8 December 2019.
^"Shane Koyczan announces Silence Is A Song I Know All The Words To". shanekoyczan.com. Retrieved 8 December 2019.
^"Shane Koyczan & The Short Story Long - Debris". Discogs. Retrieved 8 December 2019.
^Koyczan, Shane (19 February 2013). "To This Day Project – Shane Koyczan". YouTube. Retrieved 23 February 2013.
^Koyczan, Shane. "To This Day Project". Tumblr. Retrieved 23 February 2013.
^"Filmmaker Q&A: Shut Up and Say Something Director Melanie Wood". Calgary International Film Festival. 23 August 2017. Retrieved 15 October 2017.
^Clare Hennig (1 October 2017). "Shane Koyczan reunites with estranged father in VIFF documentary". CBC News. Retrieved 15 October 2017.
^"Indian Horse Wins Coveted VIFF Super Channel People's Choice Award" (Press release). Greater Vancouver International Film Festival Society. 13 October 2017. Retrieved 15 October 2017.