2026/2027
Sheniz Janmohamed
Poet-in-Residence
Supported by the U of T Scarborough Year of Poetry, the Doris McCarthy Gallery has invited Sheniz Janmohamed to respond to Cartographies of Longing as Poet-in-Residence. Drawing on her creative practice as a writer, artist, educator, and certified Forest Bathing Guide, Janmohamed will develop programming that expands on and contextualizes the exhibition. This will include a series exploring the works of the exhibiting artists through guided prompts and reflections, poetry writing, and nature reconnection activities.
ABOUT THE ARTIST
Sheniz Janmohamed grew up just outside Toronto and has ancestral ties to Kenya and India. A writer, educator and artist, Sheniz is a graduate of the MFA in Creative Writing program at the University of Guelph. She has been performing her poetry for 15 years, including features at the Jaipur Literature Festival, Aga Khan Museum, and Vancouver Writers Fest.
Her writing has been published in Arc Poetry Magazine, Hopper Magazine, and Canthius and she is a regular reviewer for Quill & Quire. She has three collections of poetry, published by Mawenzi House: Bleeding Light (2010), Firesmoke (2014) and Reminders on the Path (2021). At the moment, she’s writing her fourth book, How to Scare the Birds, a collection of hybrid essays about the intersections of identity, ecological and personal grief, and the language of place across Kenya and Canada.
Her land art has been featured across Turtle Island, including the National Arts Centre, MOCA and the Art Gallery of Mississauga.
A recipient of the Lois Birkenshaw-Fleming Creative Teaching Scholarship, Sheniz holds an Artist Educator Mentor certification from the Royal Conservatory. She visits dozens of organizations and schools to offer performances, nature-based interventions and workshops. In 2022, Sheniz served as the Writer-in-Residence at the University of Toronto Scarborough Campus, the first writer of South Asian descent to be appointed to this position.
Sheniz is a certified Forest Bathing Guide, working to promote well-being, nature connection and pro-environmental attitudes across communities in the GTA.
