- Chris Tse
-
Chris Tse 
Born Christopher Samuel Tse
19 June 1989Occupation Poet and writer Chris Tse (born 19 June 1989) is a Canadian spoken word poet of Chinese descent. He has won numerous poetry slam competitions and was the former captain of the Capital Slam team that won the Canadian Festival of Spoken Word championship.[1]
Raised in Coquitlam, B.C., he attended Carleton University in Ottawa and received his bachelor's in journalism in 2011.[2] Inspired by Shane Koyczan and his interest in hip hop, he began performing while still an undergraduate.[3] He won the Vancouver poetry slam in December 2009 with his poem I'm Sorry I'm a Christian.[4] The piece addressed hypocrisy amongst Christians and their dealings with others. The performance was videotaped and went viral on youtube in 2010 and remains his most popular piece. In 2010, he won the Capital Slam championship and captained the Capital Slam team to victory in the national championship.[5] Since then, he has performed across Canada, the United States, and Ghana in various slams as a featured poet. He was invited in 2010 by TED to perform for TedxKids and also made an appearance at SPEAKout.[6][7] In 2011 Tse represented Canada at the Poetry Slam World Cup in Paris and won second place.[8]
Subject matter in his poetry ranges from young love to racial profiling, faith, child sex slavery, and war. Stylistically, it can be described as a blend between hip-hop and story telling.[9] In an interview, Tse comments on his poetry and his faith.
I approach it the same way I approach my faith. My faith is unique. God meets you wherever you are at. You can be a new believer, you can be doubting, you can be an atheist. But God can meet you where you're at. That's the way I approach evangelism: it's about meeting people where they're at. It's not about sharing with people the five pillars of salvation and hoping they'll be saved from hell. It's about meeting them where they're at, loving them, being in relationship with them, and letting the Spirit move.[10]
Besides spoken word, Tse has worked in Ghana as a human rights reporter. He is also skilled in kung fu.[11]
Contents
Bibliography
- Ode to My Afro - Selected works
- Ode to My Afro - Audio recordings of selected works
Notable Poems
- I'm Sorry I'm a Christian
- Railroad
- Greatness
- My McDonald's Girl
- Identity
- These Damn Immigrants
- Euthanasia for the Youth in Asia
- Jobs
References
- ^ http://www1.carleton.ca/fpa/news/grand-slam-poetry/
- ^ http://tedxkids.ca/speakers/chris-tse/
- ^ http://www.ottawamagazine.com/society/2010/10/12/from-the-print-edition-a-qa-with-slam-poetry-champion-chris-tse/
- ^ http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EieFdXy_HwM
- ^ http://www.ottawatonite.com/2010/06/more-than-words-can-say-capital-slam-poetry-finals/
- ^ http://www1.carleton.ca/fpa/news/grand-slam-poetry/
- ^ /http://www.speakoutpoetry.com/poets/chris-tse/
- ^ http://www.tonightitspoetry.com/wordpress/?p=456
- ^ http://mtls.ca/issue9/spoken-word/chris-tse
- ^ http://www.patheos.com/Resources/Additional-Resources/Im-Sorry-Im-a-Christian?offset=0&max=1
- ^ http://www.tonightitspoetry.com/wordpress/?p=456
See also
- Slam poetry
Categories:- Canadian people of Chinese descent
- Canadian poets
- Canadian spoken word artists
- Living people
- Slam poets
- Spoken word poets
- 1989 births
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