"Shab-e She’r (Poetry Night) is Canada’s most diverse & brave poetry reading + open mic series
Featured poets: Ronna Bloom & Mbonisi Zikhali Zomkhonto + Open Mic for poetry in any language
Host: Bänoo Zan
Time: Wednesday, July 30, 2025 Place: Living Room, Tranzac Club, 292 Brunswick Ave, Toronto, ON M5S 2M7 This is an in-person event open to the public.
Open Mic Sign-up: 6:30 PM at the venue Open Mic Duration: 3 minutes Show: 7-10 PM EST Admission: $10-20 Sliding Scale Cash at the door There is an ATM machine at the venue.
Ronna Bloom is a Toronto-based poet and educator and the author of seven books of poetry. Her work has been broadcast on CBC, recorded by the Canadian National Institute for the Blind, and translated into Bangla and Chinese. Ronna has led initiatives to bring poetry into health care settings, specifically developing the first Poet-in-Residence program at Sinai Health. Her work has appeared in Best Canadian Poetry twice and has been nominated for a Pushcart Prize. A Possible Trust: The Poetry of Ronna Bloom, selected with an introduction by Phil Hall, was published by Wilfrid Laurier University Press in 2023. Her new book, In a Riptide, will be out with Brick Books on September 15th.
Mbonisi Zikhali was born in Makokoba, in Bulawayo, Zimbabwe. His spoken word/storytelling name is Zomkhonto, which is his bloodline’s totem. He is an arts educator, youth mentor, community development worker and mental wellness advocate. He considers himself an afro-empath and is driven to ensure that people find joy and healing in the power of words and story-telling. One of the recent publications he has appeared in include “Colossus: Body – An Anthology of the Self” by Colossus Press (San Francisco, California 2023) which defends the rights of women to have autonomy over their bodies. He sits on Storytelling Toronto’s board of directors. "