bassam (they/them or xe/xim) is a spoken word poet, proud auntie, and settler currently residing on the unceded Coast Salish territories of the Musqueam, Squamish, and Tsleil-Waututh First Nations peoples (colonially known as “Vancouver, Canada”).

they are the current National Director of Spoken Word Canada, a member of the League of Canadian Poets, and have toured Turtle Island performing spoken word.

bassam earned title of national slam champion at the Canadian Festival of Spoken Word (CFSW) in 2016 with the Guelph Poetry Slam team, and Canadian Individual Poetry Slam (CIPS) finalist in 2017.

they are the author of three collections of poetry, two of which released in 2018: ‘bliss in die / unbinging the underglow’ (Swimming with Elephants Publications) and ‘_nil:/per.OS – sepukku|smiles + songs for sarah’ (GenZ Publishing). they were also editor-in-chief and publisher for ‘these pills don’t come in my skin tone’, a spoken word poetry collection exclusively by Black, Indigenous, and People of Colour (BIPOC) on mental health and illness, released in fall 2017.

a (gender)queer, Jewish person of Middle-Eastern descent and a longtime sufferer of body dysmorphia, bipolar and eating disorders, bassam believes in radical kindness as resistance to colonization, that there is no equity or peace without justice, and that intersectionality is vital in the struggle against kyriarchy.