Chris Tse (born 19 June 1989) (Chinese name: 謝聖文) is a

Canadian Canadians (french: Canadiens) are people identified with the country of Canada. This connection may be residential, legal, historical or cultural. For most Canadians, many (or all) of these connections exist and are collectively the source of ...

spoken-word poet, motivational speaker, and hip hop artist of

Chinese Chinese can refer to: * Something related to China * Chinese people, people of Chinese nationality, citizenship, and/or ethnicity **''Zhonghua minzu'', the supra-ethnic concept of the Chinese nation ** List of ethnic groups in China, people of ...

descent. A former speaker for Me to We, he has toured extensively with the Kenyan Boys Choir and in

We Day We Day (stylized as WE Day) was an annual series of stadium-sized youth empowerment events organized by We Charity (formerly known as Free The Children), a Canadian charity founded by brothers Marc and Craig Kielburger. WE Day events host tens ...

s across

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. Born in

Vancouver Vancouver ( ) is a major city in western Canada, located in the Lower Mainland region of British Columbia. As the List of cities in British Columbia, most populous city in the province, the 2021 Canadian census recorded 662,248 people in the ...

and raised in

Coquitlam Coquitlam ( ) is a city in the Lower Mainland of British Columbia, Canada. Mainly suburban, Coquitlam is the sixth-largest city in the province, with a population of 148,625 in 2021, and one of the 21 municipalities comprising Metro Vancouver. ...

British Columbia British Columbia (commonly abbreviated as BC) is the westernmost province of Canada, situated between the Pacific Ocean and the Rocky Mountains. It has a diverse geography, with rugged landscapes that include rocky coastlines, sandy beaches, ...

, Tse attended

Carleton University Carleton University is an English-language public research university in Ottawa, Ontario, Canada. Founded in 1942 as Carleton College, the institution originally operated as a private, non-denominational evening college to serve returning Wo ...

in Ottawa where he received his bachelor's degree in

journalism Journalism is the production and distribution of reports on the interaction of events, facts, ideas, and people that are the " news of the day" and that informs society to at least some degree. The word, a noun, applies to the occupation (pro ...

. He began performing spoken-word in his second year of his undergraduate studies. In 2009, he won the Vancouver poetry slam with his poem ''I'm Sorry I'm a Christian'', and in the following year he won the Capital Slam championship in Ottawa. He went on to captain the Capital Slam team to victory in the national championship. Since then, he has performed across Canada, the

United States The United States of America (U.S.A. or USA), commonly known as the United States (U.S. or US) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It consists of 50 states, a federal district, five major unincorporated territori ...

, Europe, Asia, and

Ghana Ghana (; tw, Gaana, ee, Gana), officially the Republic of Ghana, is a country in West Africa. It abuts the Gulf of Guinea and the Atlantic Ocean to the south, sharing borders with Ivory Coast in the west, Burkina Faso in the north, and To ...

in various slams as a featured poet. He has given performances twice with

TED TED may refer to: Economics and finance * TED spread between U.S. Treasuries and Eurodollar Education * ''Türk Eğitim Derneği'', the Turkish Education Association ** TED Ankara College Foundation Schools, Turkey ** Transvaal Education Depa ...

and has also made an appearance at SPEAKout. In 2011 Tse represented

at the Poetry Slam World Cup in

Paris Paris () is the Capital city, capital and List of communes in France with over 20,000 inhabitants, most populous city of France, with an estimated population of 2,165,423 residents in 2019 in an area of more than 105 km² (41 sq mi), ma ...

and won second place. Besides spoken word, Tse has worked in

as a human rights reporter with

Journalists for Human Rights Journalists for Human Rights (JHR) is Canada's largest international media development organization based in Toronto, Ontario, Canada. JHR was founded in 2002 by Benjamin Peterson and Alexandra Sicotte-Levesque in 2002.Davis, Nicholas,Africa go ...

. In 2016, he resigned from his speaker and leadership facilitator roles at Me to We. He is also the founder of the blog Fish With legs. With a passion for Social Justice and his work as a speaker for Youth, Tse remarks:

I’ve always been social-justice minded. Growing up in Coquitlam, it wasn’t a rough upbringing, but every city has its issues and some friends from high school did end up doing drugs and getting involved in gangs. My parents raised me to learn about the world and see the disparity that exists.

Notable poems

*I'm Sorry I'm a Christian *Railroad *Greatness *My McDonald's Girl *Wake Up *Euthanasia for the Youth in Asia *Jobs *Sine Metu (for

Jameson Whiskey Jameson ( or ) is a blended Irish whiskey produced by the Irish Distillers subsidiary of Pernod Ricard. Originally one of the six main Dublin Whiskeys at the Jameson Distillery Bow St., Jameson is now distilled at the New Midleton Distillery i ...

)

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Tse, Chris 1989 births Canadian people of Chinese descent 21st-century Canadian poets Canadian male poets Canadian spoken word poets Living people Slam poets People from Coquitlam Poets from Vancouver 21st-century Canadian male writers

Notable poems

See also

References