Some days I feel stuck in a rut and I catch myself doing the same things I’ve always done, hoping to get a different result. Most days I wake up on the right side of the bed and everything just flows. The reason I’m writing about Shane today can be summarized in one word: Here’s an extended and animated version of “We Are More” (click on Watch on YouTube). Most footage of that performance is of very poor quality because the Olympic Committee regulates the rights to the original broadcast and we’re stuck with amateur video. The man who was born in the obscure town of Yellowknife in Canada’s Northwest Territories, wowed the world with his words. His first published collection, Visiting Hours, was the only work of poetry selected by the Guardian, Globe and Mail newspapers, for their Best Books of the Year lists in 2005.Īnd yet, most people have never heard of him.Īll of that changed when Shane Koyczan recited his poem “ We Are More” at the opening ceremony for the 2010 Winter Olympics held in Vancouver, British Columbia. In doing so, he became the first-ever winner from outside the U.S. In 2000, he won the individual championship at the National Poetry Slam in Providence, Rhode Island – beating 250 North American competitors. His powerful performances turned comic book addicts into poetry lovers. His videos have brought YouTube viewers to tears. Some have called him the greatest performer of spoken word of our time.
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