Chris Tse (Canadian poet)

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Chris Tse
Born	Christopher Samuel Tse (1989-06-19) 19 June 1989 (age 35) Vancouver, B.C., Canada
Occupation(s)	Poet and writer

Chris Tse (born 19 June 1989) is a Canadian spoken word poet, motivational speaker, and hip hop artist of Chinese descent. A speaker for Me to We^[1], he has toured extensively with the Kenyan Boys Choir and in We Days across Canada.^[2] He placed second at the 2011 Poetry Slam World Cup and was the former captain of the Capital Slam team that won the Canadian Festival of Spoken Word championship.^[3]

Born in Vancouver and raised in Coquitlam, B.C., Tse attended Carleton University in Ottawa and received his bachelor's in journalism in 2011.^[4] Inspired by Shane Koyczan and his interest in hip hop, he began performing while still an undergraduate.^[5] He won the Vancouver poetry slam in December 2009 with his poem I'm Sorry I'm a Christian.^[6] 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.^[7] Since then, he has performed across Canada, the United States, Europe, Asia, 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.^[8][9] In 2011 Tse represented Canada at the Poetry Slam World Cup in Paris and won second place.^[10]

Subject matter in his poetry ranges widely, spanning anything from child memories to child soldiers. Stylistically, it can be described as a blend between hip-hop and story telling.^[11] 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.^[12]

Besides spoken word, Tse has worked in Ghana as a human rights reporter with Journalists for Human Rights.^[13] He currently works for Free the Children and Me to We as a motivational speaker and leadership facilitator.^[14]

With a passion for Social Justice and his work as a speaker for Youth, Tse remarks:

I’ve always been social-justice minded. Growing up in Coquitlam, it wasn’t a rough upbringing, but every city has its issues and some friends from high school did end up doing drugs and getting involved in gangs. My parents raised me to learn about the world and see the disparity that exists.^[15]

• Ode to My Afro - Selected works
• Ode to My Afro - Audio recordings of selected works

• I'm Sorry I'm a Christian
• Railroad
• Greatness
• My McDonald's Girl
• Wake Up
• Euthanasia for the Youth in Asia
• Jobs
• Meow meow meow

• Slam poetry

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