Biography
Peace Akintade-Oluwagbeye (she/her), Saskatchewan's Poet Laureate, is an African-Canadian Interdisciplinary Poet, Public Speaker, Chorus-Poem Playwrighter, and Thespian residing in Saskatoon Saskatchewan. Author of "Earth Skin", a poetry collection retelling the joys and woes of human connection. Organically from Yorubaland Nigeria, Peace explores the intersectionality of the artist community from an explorer's perspective, dipping her honey-stained fingers into poetry, dance, performance art, critical research, and the theatre world. Her poems express her undying love for ironic justice, motivational banter, the dimmed light of Africa’s internal dilemma, and the trouble of cultural barriers. In 2021, her play "Madness with Rocks" was chosen for the 21 Black Future Project with Obsidian Theatre and CBCGem. Her play "Painted Elephant" was shortlisted for the IBPOC 2021 Persephone Theatre Commission and debuted with the Black Theatre Workshop in Montreal. Recipient of the 2022 RBC SaskArts Emerging Artist Award and the 2023 Platinum Jubilee Queen's Medal. 2020-2021 Saskatchewan Youth Poet Laurate, 2022 READSaskatoon Poet Laurate, Poet-in-Residence with the Remai Modern Gallery for their Here and Now: Live Arts Initiative, and currently finishing her Artist-in-residency with BamSaskatoon, which includes a 16-hour performance art of continuous writing.
She co-coordinates Write Out Loud, a Saskatoon-based youth poetry community. Peace facilitates poetry workshops in classrooms and schools across Saskatchewan's expansive and diverse communities through her work with Common Weal, Write Out Loud, and the Youth Speaker’s Bureau for the Office of the Treaty Commissioner. She has facilitated workshops at Nutana Collegiate, Aden Bowman, Warman High School, Saskatoon Open Door Society, Regina Open Door Society, Chokecherry Studios, and beyond. Her writing has introduced Neo Soul poetry into the spoken word scene, revealing the inauthenticity of the English language when spoken from a voodoo tongue. Her work knits together folklore, current events, and vivid imagery to create bridges.
Within the pages of "Earth Skin," her debut collection, you will embark on a poetic odyssey that delves into the intricate tapestry of self-perception, the bonds we share, collective experiences, the weight of trauma and grief, the nuances of love and romance, and the intricate interplay between our individual existence and the world, weaving together to form a collective "oneself."
Her goal is to introduce the power of traditional African (Yoruba) oral literature, storytelling, and performance art to the growing public of Saskatchewan and beyond, and to make Poetry and Spoken Word accessible to youths by integrating the creativity and resourcefulness of poetry language to music, dance, plays, on stages with thousands, or inside the classroom.